"Countries with strong national identity can prosper in the world", Mr. Yahya Polani

Mr. Yahya Polani, Chairman Polani Group

We all enjoyed our excellent visit to Mauritius. It was my first visit and I really appreciate that Mr. Sohail Yasin demonstrated confidence in us, and took us in a group of seventeen, with members from every walk of life. It was an achievement and an honor to meet all the higher dignitaries of Mauritius including the President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Commerce Minister, and Officers of the Board of Investment.  We were also delighted to meet with officials of Air Mauritius and Mauritius Chamber of Commerce.  

We also attended the exhibition Maitex 2014. It was excellent. The most important thing is that it is a really good country among all the African countries. Their per capita income is higher than the other African countries. The population is about 1.2 million and the number of tourists is about 1 million.  This is a big achievement for any country to have such an enormous amount of tourism. There are 17% Muslims, 32% Christians, 48% Hindus and others. Muslims are really doing well there. They have named a road as ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah Road’ and a market is named ‘Jinnah Market’. They are really promoting Urdu language there.

We could not visit every place, obviously, but still the visit was really good. Our Government should increase efforts for building our relationship with Mauritius. There are only three staff members at the Pakistan Embassy over there while the Indian Embassy has hundred staff members. This is really shameful for us. All top countries have embassies there. I salute our ambassador Major General (r) Ulfat Hussain. He is doing a good job. Former ambassador Major General (r) Muhammae Siddique has done a very good job for Pakistan, but from the Government of Pakistan side, they are not doing anything to promote Pakistan in Mauritius. Our Ambassador is one of a kind. He is really active in his job. I pay tribute to Former Ambassador Major General (r) Siddique Sahib and current ambassador Major General (r) Ulfat Sahab as they are doing a wonderful job.  On the other hand, I criticize our government. They should work for developing a strong cultural and trade relationship with Mauritius. There is lots of opportunity for  export over there. We have many items which can be exported there. India has captured a large part of the Mauritian market. At least we can aim for 17% share. I request our President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to strengthen our Embassy there.   We should increase our exports to Mauritius. We should invite Mauritian people to visit Pakistan. We should have culture display in the Pakistan Embassy in Mauritius. We should have meetings with Mauritian government officials.  Pakistan’s government should provide staff to Pakistan Embassy in Mauritius. The image buildup which we have done in Mauritius of Pakistan is one of its kind. There is a need for more delegation visits like this.

I really enjoyed the dinner at Islamic Centre in Mauritius. The Prime Minister was there, Deputy Prime Minister was there, all the higher dignitaries were there and I liked one thing very much, which is that they served only one dish, which was biryani. In Pakistan, if we have this type of event, we serve hundreds of dishes. So, the system of one dish party is marvelous. We should also introduce this system here in Pakistan.

I had a chance to meet officials of Air Mauritius. I think the issue with Air Mauritius is that they have only six aircraft. As Mauritius is a huge tourist spot and a peaceful country, people like to visit there. Officials of Air Mauritius are really professional. I have not seen people like them in the history of airlines. I suggested to them to promote their airline in Pakistan. Many groups have visited Mauritius from Pakistan through our travel agency. Now I will promote Mauritius further.

We should have terms and conditions to promote Air Mauritius. They have shortage of aircrafts and they have code-sharing with Emirates.  So it will be a benefit for us to travel through Emirates with fare that is equal to Air Mauritius. It is also possible to have agreement between PIA and Air Mauritius but the problem is that both have shortage of aircraft. Population of Pakistan according to me is about 22 crore (220 million) and we don’t have a total 100 aircraft including PIA and other private airlines combined. Even Turkey whose population is much less than Pakistan has around 400 aircraft including Turkish Airline’s and others private airlines. So where are we going? No one give importance to tourism in Pakistan. We should promote it for the welfare of Pakistan. 

Mauritius is a genuinely patriotic nation. Having 17% Muslim population and 53% Hindu population there is no feeling of discrimination. 

 "Countries with strong national identity can prosper in the world and Mauritius is one of them".