people
Heidi Powell-Prera
So you feel with the Chinese Investment
and other improvements in the region that
the climate is right to invest in Pakistan
and vice versa?
Asif Ehsan
Oh yes one thing that is not openly dis-
cussed in the US is that Pakistan has a
huge educated population. Pakistan is
number 7 in the world in the number of
engineers.
IF Magazine’s Heidi Powell-Prera Speaking with Asif
Ehsan President, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA
(PCC-USA) for the years 2017 and 2018
President Ehsan welcomes any business
person with an interest in Pakistan to join
the chamber saying they act as a liason
between the American Business Commu-
nity and the Pakistan Business Commu-
nity. In August they were planning a 20 th
Anniversary Celebration Gala the weekend
of the storm which will now be held in Oc-
tober along with an educational seminar in
partnership with organizations such as the
SBA, attorneys, an CPAs.
Asif Ehsan
My background is in Hospitality, as you
can tell, I have spent quite a bit of years
in Hotels and Country Clubs. Looking at
Pakistan there has been a lot of distur-
bance in Pakistan, which has now been
taken care of. China is putting 46 billion
dollars in Pakistan opening the corridor
between China and Pakistan. With the
opening of that road between Pakistan and
China, a lot of tourism is going to open, a
lot of hotels and restaurants are going to
open along the way. There are thousands
of miles of the silk road. So we looked at
what is lacking in Pakistan. Because of
all this growth, we realize that there will
be a few hotels that will be opening up.
Then we looked at what kind of education
is available for these hoteliers in Pakistan,
and they don’t have too many institutes for
hospitality management like we have in the
United States. We are thinking about con-
necting the existing Pakistani Universities
to US Universities that offer Hospitality
52 iF Magazine | October 2017
Management. The main one is right here.
We have the Conrad Hilton College at
University of Houston very reputable. This
idea was discussed just a couple months
ago before all this happened. That is one
of the projects that we are working on. We
have identified some reputable Universi-
ties in Pakistan and others here like Las
Vegas University of Nevada, Cornell, and
others even in Canada. Our next step is
figuring out how we are going to approach
it. We want to take American Hospitality
Education to Pakistan. The relationship
between Pakistan and the USA is 70 years
old, because the US was the first country
to recognize Pakistan and to offer help.
When I was growing up in Pakistan I loved
America. You know what was the reason I
came here?
Heidi Powell-Prera - Why?
Your Western Movies. John Wayne and
others. The US was very liked, especially
in Pakistan. I’ve been here 31 years. Paki-
stan has many sister cities, Houston being
one with Karachi.
Heidi Powell-Prera
How many Pakistani would you say are in
the Houston Community?
Asif Ehsan
Oh, I’d say over 100,000. And I’ve seen
that grow. I came her in 1987. Since then
it has tripled.
Heidi Powell-Prera
And why is that so? Is education a large
part of the culture there?
Asif Ehsan
Just think in 1947 they got freedom and
Pakistan had nothing. India was already a
cultured and developed country. But our
area was not developed. Our capital was
a tent city. The leaders at that time figured
out the only way that we would progress
fast was through education. So they iden-
tified thousands of students and sent them
all over the world to study. When those
people came back, they formed a very
solid engine.
The 50-founding member Advisory Coun-
cil, under the leadership of founding
President Dr. Ashraf Abbasi, established
PCC-USA as a premier business organi-
zation in Houston, Texas, on August 14,
1997 to coincide with the Golden Jubilee
of Pakistan Independence Day. Since that
eventful beginning more than 2 decades
ago, the PCC-USA has attained the status
of a premier business organization both
in the USA and in Pakistan. Goals of the
Chamber are two fold, to help promote
and strengthen good relations between
our adopted homeland the USA and the
country of our origin, Pakistan, through
Trade and Commerce; and to help the
Pakistani-American business community
within the USA to fully benefit and enjoy
the freedom and opportunities offered
by this great country. http://pcc-usa.org.
PCC-USA is persistent and consistent in
its pursuit for excellence. PCC-USA pub-
lishes an annual Spokesman Magazine
and holds a Gala which is the showcase
event of PCC-USA.