On the polluted sands of Seaview beach in Karachi, a group of Chinese businessmen stand with their trousers rolled up to their ankles, thumbing an iPad, surrounded by camels, horses, throngs of covered-up locals and a private security guard holding an automatic weapon. The picture is one of progress.
Rich residents may still whizz around the 20m-large mega-city with highly visible private security guards, but Karachi is beginning to feel much safer. Or so say the local elite, as they sip bring-your-own alcohol behind the closed doors of the city’s private compounds, French restaurants and old colonial clubs.
Credit for the clean-up is put down to the presence of “the rangers”, a crime-busting paramilitary force under the control of the central government. Its successful year-long stay was recently extended for another year. Although the signs of progress are not always immediately obvious.
Pakistani ex-pats returning to Karachi remark at no longer having to pack a second “burner” phone alongside an iPhone: a once necessary offering to local mobile phone muggers. Meanwhile, taxi drivers making pick-ups at the airport—bombed last year by the Taliban—no longer automatically lock their doors to protect against carjacking.
This sense of renewed optimism is enlivening Pakistan’s commercial capital. Rocket Internet has been busy gobbling up its local rivals in the lively e-commerce sector; homegrown coffee chains are taking off, led by Espresso. Meanwhile, local start-ups are combining new technology with more traditional offerings.
Atif Bin Arif started his tour bus company, Super Savari Express, in Karachi at the end of 2014. Six months later it has operations in Lahore and the twin cities of Rawalpindi and the capital, Islamabad. It plans to be in 10 cities by year-end, such is demand. “There was a sense of fear, which I don’t see anymore,” says Mr Arif, who split his childhood between Karachi and Canada.
As of early August, almost 3000 customers—mainly Pakistanis—have been on a Super Savari, seeing sights such as Karachi’s Empress Market (see picture), scene of a British colonial massacre. The 5% from abroad, a global mix of Peruvians, Colombians and Chinese alongside the usual Americans, Aussies and Brits, tend to come when visiting friends or family. The company actively markets itself on social media, but only two found it on Facebook.
Mr Atif’s latest venture is corporate away days. The usual trappings of a two day leadership summit—from hotel rooms to conference suites and team building exercises—come with a twist: executives are bussed out to the countryside where they must work together to milk a cow, or draw water from a well. Unsurprisingly only one international firm has signed up so far with the rest being Pakistani.
But outside of business trips or visits to family and friends, it will be a while before international tourism returns en masse to this country of almost 200m. Fewer than a million people a year visit Pakistan, putting it closer to the honeymoon destinations of the Maldives and Mauritius than the 5m+ who visit neighbouring India.
Here the authorities could certainly do more to help the travel industry. Tourist visas should not require a letter from an employer, an invitation from a local sponsor and bank statements going back 6 months. Myanmar has only just opened up to foreign visitors and its tourist visa can be done electronically—including photographs. But rolling out the welcome mat does not mean airport officials hand-picking overseas tourists for “special” fast-track immigration clearance—in exchange for a voluntary donation of US dollars.
The priority, however, should be taking guns off the streets and finding jobs for out-of-work security guards. Until that happens Karachi residents will continue to discuss the increasing safety with a sense of defeatism. They’ve seen it all before. The improved image of their city—and their country—will only last as long as the next incident that happens: cue a famous ex-cricketer being shot at during an incident of everyday Karachi road rage. Back to business as usual.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.
