Personal security top concern for Karachi business community

Mounting lawlessness affects performance of corporate firms.

KARACHI: The biggest concern for the business community of Karachi is personal security, following mounting lawlessness, kidnappings for ransom and killing of some traders in the past few months.

Pakistan Business Council Chief Executive Kamran Y Mirza said the ongoing wave of fear in Karachi is affecting them considerably. “Concern of personal security has sidelined other problems,“ he said.

“It is quite disturbing that we do not see any improvement in the situation,“ he added. Since Karachi is a port city that handles most of the imports and exports, this situation affects the entire country, he said.

American Business Council (ABC) Vice President Saad Amanullah Khan commented that according to a recent survey, personal security is one of the key concerns of American companies operating in Pakistan. ABC represents more than 68 American companies operating in Pakistan.

“Nothing has changed over the last two months and personal security risks continue to cause jitters for most companies,“ he said. Furthermore, firms operating their busi nesses from troubled areas are also worried about the welfare of their employees, he added.

At a recent media briefing by ABC President Humayun Bashir, a survey of multinational companies highlighted that personal security is one of their top most concerns, apart from problems related to tax structure.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Chairman M Haroon Qassim said that most of the executives of pharmaceutical companies are concerned over personal security in Karachi. He commented that people avoid small roads, especially in industrial areas, owing to the threat of street crimes and kidnapping for ransom. “Receiving life threats is now a routine for an industrialist in Karachi,“ he added.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Saeed Shafiq said the business community is hopeless over the security situation in Karachi. KCCI has recently formed a crisis management cell to monitor crimes against the business community.

“Businessmen are not only worried about themselves but also fear for their families because of growing crimes against them,“ he said.
“Nothing will change until we change the corrupt system in the country,“ he said, adding that police have also been doing nothing to control the crime rate of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2011.