Courage in building partnerships – Finns, explore Pakistan!

Shahid Amin was one of the participants in the Finland Pakistan Business Summit, organised in mid-March. The Summit consisted of two events, held in Islamabad and Karachi, where Finnish and Pakistani companies met for networking. The main organiser of the events was Finland Pakistan Business Council, chaired by Wille Eerola, Honorary Consul General of Pakistan in Finland.

Shahid Amin is himself a Finn coming from Pakistan and has been an entrepreneur in the motorcycle clothing and accessories business. He has lived in Finland since 2001. Shahid hopes to see more cooperation between companies in Finland and Pakistan. He understands why Finns may be wary since Pakistan is not often heard of except for negative news headlines.

He, however, encourages Finnish companies to be brave, investigate the market, and take a risk with a country like Pakistan. This step opens a market of over 200 million consumers, where there will be a segment for Finnish products, along with capable partners for subcontracting and manufacturing, with the textile manufacturing sector being the most prominent. Shahid’s family is from Sialkot, which is known for example for sports clothing and equipment manufacturing.

In addition to the large and English-speaking market, Shahid also lists other reasons why Finnish-Pakistani cooperation in business makes sense for both sides. His company Eurobiker Oy (later part of Bike Team Oy) has cooperated with Pakistani company Lamda Industries which is owned by Shahid’s family. He says that the much larger Lamda Industries has benefited greatly from cooperating with Finns. The company has received a lot of new knowledge regarding the transparency of business and quality assurance processes. The know-how received from the cooperation helped Lamda to become the fifth largest motorcycle clothing manufacturer in Pakistan. Shahid indeed thinks that Finnish-Pakistani cooperation can create world-class brands!

Shahid also mentions the importance of personal and confidential relationships with the business partner when forming a functioning partnership. He welcomes Finns with open arms to Pakistan! The potential of the business is well illustrated by the fact that the business community in Sialkot built an airport and established an airline called Airsial to serve their needs. Similar capacity is rarely found with such ease in Finnpartnership’s target countries.

Finland Pakistan Business Summit had a total of 200 participants from Finland and Pakistan. There were six Finnish companies and organisations present, representing mainly the education and energy sectors. The event was organised in cooperation with Team Finland organisations, including Finland’s Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Hannu Ripatti and Finnpartnership. The companies in attendance were very pleased with the events and several new partnerships are being formulated!

If you’re interested in doing business in Pakistan, contact us:

Axel Sointu, Business Partnership Lead, axel.sointu(a)finnpartnership.fi

Eelis Hemberg, ProgrammeOfficer, eelis.hemberg(a)finnpartnership.fi