In Pakistan

Four weeks of very intensive travelling and, consequently, very limited posting came to an end yesterday. My most recent trip was to Karachi, Pakistan. The economy is growing pretty strongly there (+8.4% last year) and an exhibition and business media industry beginning to grow well on the back of it.

I was visiting the Textile Asia exhibition at the Karachi Expo Centre. The venue owners had finished construction of two new halls only 2 days before the show opened but demand was strong enough that the organisers, eCommerce Gateway, took over the new halls and used them anyway. The fair was consequently 50% larger than it had been in 2005.

It was interesting to see the level of support that the Government is giving this privately-organised event. The country's President, General Pervez Musharraf, was guest of honour at the event's official dinner staged at the magnificent Governor House. The Textile Industry Minister was present at several events as was the #3 in the government pecking order, the Chairman of the Senate. This is not entirely surprising as textiles are Pakistan's number one foreign exchange earner.

This is not what we usually read and hear about Pakistan and it's good to see international commerce leading, as it so often does, to a better and deeper understanding of what is really happening in the world.