Meet Zia Chishti, the person who likes to show his investors that Pakistan is safe and they need to understand the country to understand his company.
Skiing for Foreign Businessmen
Recently, Chishti embarked off a helicopter- skiing his way downhill in the northern snow capped peaks of Pakistan, with the aim to convince investors, clients and CEOs that the nation that was once recalled by the economist as ‘the world’s most dangerous place’ is officially safe for business and everyday living.
Chishti, gathered a group from several countries including Alessandro Benetton, a heir to a billionaire family and owner to the iconic Italian clothing company, and Huawei Technologies Co. rotating CEO Guo Ping earlier this year in Pakistan.
An Afiniti ski group enjoys the Karakoram mountain range.
Last month, his artificial intelligence company -Afiniti- signed a deal with Huawei. They also have PTCL on board as their first and only customer in homeland.
Chishti, wanted to ensure his clients understand that Pakistan struggled against internal militant groups and changed since The Economist report.
Chishti has added more people in his Pakistani offices as well, a move that will also help him keep costs under control as he prepares for a public offering in the U.S
“Pakistan by any reasonable and adaptive measure is an extremely safe place to do business,” said Chishti, “All in all it’s a very favorable place to do business and the world’s perception just has to catch up.” He said during a phone interview.
Despite a widespread negative perception over the country’s security record, multiple military operations have restrained domestic issues after a Pakistani Taliban massacre at a school three years ago.
The initiative by army has boosted the confidence of companies, including TRG, and foreign investment is up 155 percent to $457 million in the first two months of business. Chishti’s TRG, has moved into a larger building this year that will fit 3,000 staff in the previously tumultuous port city of Karachi.
About Chisti’s Company
Chishti’s latest focus is an artificial intelligence company Afiniti that enhances call flows at contact centers bringing in clients like Vodafone Group Plc, Sky Plc and T-Mobile US Inc. Chishti’s TRG holds about half of the company.
The company plans to list itself on the Nasdaq Composite Index with a valuation above $2 billion next year, giving it potential to become one of the largest enterprise software IPOs in recent years.
The level of interest is similar to “when the Internet was first booming in the 90s when established companies would just add .com to their name and their valuations would go up by a factor of three,” said Chishti. “Then there is people like us who see artificial intelligence as much more mundane, around optimizing enterprise profitability — that part of the business is going to flourish commercially in the next 2-5 years.”
The group already has a listed unit in Pakistan, which is among the nation’s top 30 stock index companies and the only representative from the technology sector.
The profit and loss “is irrelevant that is not well understood,” said Chishti. “The company has no operating business and the only way to look at is the value of the underlying asset. They only have one asset which is TRG Holdings,” which the Pakistani unit owns half of, he said. “We are very focused.”
Via: Bloomberg
That’s something good to know.
Good work by Zia Chishti
Yes Pakistan Is Peaceful & Safe Country :
Mr Chisti is an American National. He is not a Pakistani Citizen. Kindly correct this info.
Kiya Farq Pharta hai Nationality Se (Wo Khud Pakistan Aye AUR Ameeer Ko Le K Aye Aur Tareef Pakistan Ki )
Great..thats the right step in the right direction at the right time. Thats how a pro Pakistani should be look like. Insha Allah togather we can make this country a remarkable shinning star on the global map