Pakistan has one of the largest diasporas of the world.

The population of Pakistani Diaspora is more than the population of many countries. There are approximately 7 million people living overseas.

These people include world class professionals. Many doctors, engineers, business managers, etc. are working in different countries. Pakistan has world’s best doctors. They are serving in almost all countries of the world.

Pakistan has some best centers of higher education although they are few in numbers. These institutes include Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of science and technology, NUST, NED, IBA, LUMS, etc.

Expatriates serving in United States, United Kingdom are entrepreneurs, executives and other successful professional while those serving in Middle East are generally laborers. Rich expatriates are living overseas with their families while those less affluent are living alone. Pakistan receives enormous remittances especially from Middle East countries as expatriates from these countries send money to their families. Middle Eastern countries do not allow naturalization.

In European countries and in United States, it is estimated that half of Pakistanis have received their nationality. There are second and third generations of Pakistanis living there. These Pakistanis have learned a lot about foreign cultures and are increasingly intermingling with the local people from those countries.

Pakistan can export more man power to Middle Eastern countries as well as other countries facing shortage of manpower. There are many countries whose work force is shrinking owing to ageing of their population like Italy, Australia etc. and Pakistanis can benefit from opportunities in those countries. Although Pakistanis have to face stiff competition from china and India as both have huge population and have good standard of education. The increasing competition can only be faced by increasing the higher education spending as well as excess of higher education to more people.

 related links.

wikipedia

Saltflow, Inc.

Saltflow, inc. is a conglomerate and has stakes in diverse fields. Saltflow was founded in 2005 by Arif Ayub, a Pakistani national. This group is based in Dubai, UAE.

Saltflow has annual revenues in excess of $570 million annually. Group is involved in a number of fields including construction industry, trade and retail industry, and technology industry. Group has expanded its presence to North America through acquisitions.

Group’s technology business is heavily centered in Russia and controls internet companies primarily targeted at mobile and financials solutions for consumers.

In North America group has stakes in retail and trade sector. Group has invested huge amounts in retail brands and is expecting good returns.

Group also has stakes in construction industry.

Presently group provides employment to more than 500 people.

related link 

Saltflow, Inc.

Asia Pacific millionaires

Asia pacific has surpassed North America in largest number of millionaires. According to the Asia pacific wealth report 2012, a product of capgemini and RBC wealth management, there are 3.37 million millionaires in the region. This number surpasses that of North America, the land of largest economy.

According to the report the total combined wealth of all millionaires in the region is 10.7 trillion us dollars.

The report attributed this growth in number of millionaires to two factors.

1. healthy GDP (gross domestic product) growth
2. strong base of entrepreneurship

In past few years Asia pacific has grown significantly. The world’s fastest growing economies are china and India both situated in the region and both are growing significantly for more than a decade. According to the report Asia pacific economy, excluding Japan, is expected to grow 6.1 percent in 2012 and 6.6 percent in 2013. These high figures are expected to be driven by growth in Indian and Chinese economies.

This high growth number of millionaires has led to high demand for wealth management services. And wealth management companies are facing acute shortage of wealth management professionals. 

related link 

capgemini

Sadeq Saeed, a Pakistani banker

Sadeq Sayeed is a prominent Pakistani banker and electrical engineer. Presently he is serving London based hedge fund firm, Metage Capital Limited, as its chairman.

Sayeed was born in Pakistan and went to United States for studies. He took admission in Massachusetts Institute of Technology undergraduate programme in economics with concentration in electrical engineering. Later he also got his master in finance from the MIT.

He started his active professional life at the age of 23 by joining World Bank. His assignments in World Bank include working as research associate and internal consultant.

Later in 2000 he joined Nomura group, a Japanese financial conglomerate. Before joining Nomura he also served Credit Suisse First Boston, an investment banking division of Credit Suisse group.

At retirement from Nomura, he is reported to have received severance package amounting to 34 million us dollars.

In Pakistan he along with shaukat tareen, former Pakistani finance minister, led consortium which acquired controlling stakes in Saudi pak commercial bank. Later Saudi pak commercial bank was renamed as Silk Bank Limited.

How hundi/hawala system works

Hundi or hawala is an important element in economic life of many Pakistanis and Indians. Nearly 900 million US dollars are remitted every month to Pakistan through this informal system of money transfer. This system evolved centuries ago and now has been established on modern principles.

So what hawala (hundi) is?

hawala (hundi) is a system of transferring value without actual transfer of money from one place to another. Hawala payment works on the basis of trust.

It works when one person wants to send money to another person, at another place. He tells a secret word (password) to payee, in another location. Then goes to hundi agent, gives him money and tells him same secret word (password). Hundi agent tells amount as well as password to his other office, at another location, where value is to be transferred. This other office makes payment to the person who tells password. Now the payee got the payments and one office has become debtor of another.

Same process will be repeated between two offices when transfer is to be made and after setting off each others liabilities, balance amount will be transferred through actual cash delivery between offices.

Hawala/hundi system remains an impediment in increasing foreign exchange reserves of the country and must be discouraged. This can be done by making banking channel more efficient.

Using this system for money transfer in a country is illegal, but it can be used inside country for transfer of value from one city to another. Mobile banking also uses this method of money transfer.