Fawad Anwar, Managing Director of Alkaram Textile Mills, discusses the effects of the recent pandemic over businesses in Pakistan and what new opportunities have presented themselves due to this crisis.
Anwar says that COVID-19 affected the whole world, it not only tested the resilience of the masses but also gave a wakeup call to the businesses globally.
“Economies of many countries suffered, though the proactive decisions from the governments minimized the damage it could have caused. However, the biggest challenge for manufacturing sector was mostly to revisit current processes and recognise the opportunities it presented,” says Anwar.
Government of Pakistan was also very proactive in supporting businesses, they responded quickly not only in controlling the spread of the virus but also to support businesses and making sure that they run smoothly during and post crisis.
“State Bank of Pakistan took a great initiative very quickly to ensure that business could sustain in terms of cash flow. It was an extremely crucial support without which businesses would not have sustained,” says Anwar.
During the lockdown which most of the countries imposed to restrict the spread of the virus, a lot of SOPs were in effect, which allowed time for businesses to evaluate their costs and strategies.
Anwar says that, “Going forward a lot of industry would align themselves with the new way of working, most importantly exploring and implementing a new channel for sales which is online. E-commerce has grown significantly during the pandemic and now more businesses are adapting to this way of doing business.”
He further states that, “Alkaram had already tapped on this changing consumer behavior by analyzing the dependency of millennials on technology and ease. Our online sales model is already in place for few years now, so when the crisis hit, we already had a platform for our sales.”
Another crucial factor other than sales for a businesses to be successful is their employees, to hire a trained resource does not necessarily mean that the performance will be exemplary.
“Every organization has its own culture and the person has to fit in that culture and perform. It is the responsibility of the organization to analyze the person and then polish his skills by giving him proper exposure and training. This can only happen with time,” says Anwar.
The COVID-19 crisis for the right reasons made people aware of the importance of health and safety measures in work environment. Anwar says, “Alkaram always had its own standards of safety which are stricter than the ones governments have imposed. Being an export business, it has always been our priority to follow the standards and do daily testing,”
The US China trade war is presenting opportunities for Pakistan, the government has to come up with various support programs to increase the exports of Pakistan.
“The most crucial aspect to focus on is the cost of doing business and energy is the most expensive part of it. The inefficiency of our energy sector increases strain on manufacturing businesses, government has to realise that it needs a clear long term energy policy for industries to increase exports of Pakistan and make it more competitive with the global market,” says Anwar.
With new opportunities presenting themselves Pakistan is at a crossroads to determine whether to become a major textile exporter or not. Anwar says that, “The responsibility now lies with our entrepreneurs to align themselves according to global demands and for government to rationalize the cost of doing business specially focusing on the energy sector.”
Excellent Fawad sb,