Muhammad Saleem

Despite supplying their products to international brands for decades, Faisalabad’s entrepreneurs have been unable to establish their own brands globally apparently due to a lack of focus.

Mian Muhammad Latif, former chairman of the Textile Exporters Association, and the founder of the Pakistani brand ChenOne, said, “Our entrepreneurs focus more on establishing fabric brands locally than launching international brands.”

Talking to Wealth Pakistan, he said: “We tried our luck in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and remained active there for more than a decade, but we could not sustain ChenOne operations and ultimately had to shut it down.”

When asked whether the government should support the private sector in establishing international brands, he said the government should not intervene directly. “Launching international brands must remain in the hands of entrepreneurs. What the government should do is to ensure affordable electricity, gas and raw materials,” he added.

He alleged that funds collected from exporters to support participation in international exhibitions — intended to explore new markets — often end up being spent on the luxuries of bureaucrats tasked with that mission. Mian Latif said that bureaucrats should be given clear success targets for international exhibitions and held accountable in case of failure.

He said entrepreneurs didn’t get any government support in exploring new markets for their products.  “We have not been successful in developing our stores internationally or selling our brands to foreign investors,” he added.

Salamat Ali, a garment exporter, told WealthPK that he had been supplying products to multiple clients for decades, but never focused on launching his own brand internationally. He said if Faisalabad entrepreneurs can meet the standards of established international brands, they can certainly do the same for their own brands.

He noted that the entrepreneurs have to make stringent efforts to launch their brands globally. “One has to learn to swim because nobody will lend a helping hand if they start to sink,” he said.

Credit: INP-WealthPk