CEO – Punjab Board of Investment & Trade

EVOLVE: Please share something about yourself, a brief overview of your professional journey? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: I have done my MBA from Harvard Business School and have spent the last eight years of my life doing private equity in Malaysia, Singapore and San Francisco. For the last six years I served in Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, a multilateral Financial Institution and also remained part of the Board of an Islamic Bank in Europe called Bosna Bank International for two years. I am not a sector specific professional, instead I have multi sector exposure in connection with investment promotion. 

EVOLVE: Many experts see Punjab as a shining spot for real business and investment. How do you perceive this view and why? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: Looking at Punjab with an investment perspective, the prime reason is that there are all basic fundamentals in place. Having a young growing population is a big asset because they want to expand and enhance more. There is also a context of CPEC, we have had major infrastructure projects; our governance, system and processes are one of the best. So the good governance with an efficient working team, infrastructure projects, well reputed team leader, the honorable Chief Minister of Punjab have made such an exceptional combination that exactly an investor is looking for. I fully agree with the perspective that Punjab is a very attractive destination for investors in all courses of sectors.

EVOLVE: Kindly enlighten our readers about the main features of the Goal Achievement Roadmap of PBIT? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: PBIT’s main objective is to build concepts and pitch small, concise investment proposals, so that the investors get a clear picture about the opportunities and their potential in Punjab. In my view, PBIT should have many projects ready to offer, so that whenever and wherever PBIT is traveling or doing road shows, we should have a readymade set of projects to be able to pitch the investor. PBIT will be focusing on the Private Sector where there are B2B investments. We have defined our role as a back office for the local business community to help them put together those investment proposals and then also be able to reach out to investors; build an investor relation network. We are also focusing on building the go-getter kind of culture, having the right team, right organization structure and people in places.

EVOLVE: How would you describe your strategy for investment promotion and why should investors choose Punjab? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: I firmly believe that PBIT, being an Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) of Punjab, is to let the private sector decide where they want to make investment. Therefore, my approach is to not dictate the private sector about selection of sectors. My goal is to get Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). As long as investment is growing in Punjab, no matter in what sector, my job is to facilitate and attract it. We are revamping and beefing up our marketing function. We are also going to beef up our social media presence for which we are building our small in-house media team and aiming to promote our own business community and connect them to the entire world.

EVOLVE: India has very keenly focused on creating its positive outlook and attracted many investors successfully. Are you working on any such strategy about Punjab which almost covers the 62% of Pakistan and has the best infrastructure? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: That's a very interesting question. No doubt it’s all about the perception you create about your homeland to attract the investors. Punjab is very rich in cultural heritage and sites. We can channelize this potential to make Punjab an attractive and loving place. I would be going from historical sites to culture; that’s the whole point of putting together strong marketing functions that we can go across the beautiful theme, showcase the unsung individuals, historical sites, landscape, agriculture, culture and poetry. That’s basically all part of the rich experience that we want to communicate to the world. We are working on it and mapping a strategy to create a solid and positive perception about Punjab. Obviously, infrastructure is the backbone of the economy and industrialization. Where there is no connection between market and industry how you can convince someone to build an industry but initially you will have to attract the investor and that is not possible without creating a Positive Perception.

EVOLVE: How will you engage your local businessman as he is the main stakeholder to get the benefit from this investment in the form of Joint Venture, Merger etc.? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: We need to connect with our local business community. When local business will be willing to be the face of Punjab and start advising PBIT then we can envision establishing a platform like Sectoral Expertise Council. For each sector we would have a few business persons who would act as sector advisors to PBIT. 

EVOLVE: In your view, what sectors stand to benefit the most from increased foreign investor participation? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: Investors have an interest in a variety of sectors which is a very healthy thing. Like I said earlier, I would let the investors decide and pick where they want to put in the capital. 

EVOLVE: In your view, what are the significant ingredients for achieving long term success? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: One thing that I have learnt over the last ten years is that, the only way of being excellent and achieving success over the long run is to really believe in what you are doing and be passionate about it. Secondly, do not be intimidated about work, continue to put in good work and do not expect success overnight. There is a beauty to putting in the hard work; if success comes cheap, you do not really enjoy it! 

EVOLVE: Any message for the readers of EVOLVE magazine? 

Mr. Jahanzeb Burana: The message that needs to be articulated very clearly is that we as business people, our true shareholders are our Country, our Province and every individual there which automatically means it’s our employees, our shareholders. That would bring in a sense of responsibility in how we grow and build our businesses. If we can build our businesses while creating the ripple effects immediately for the larger society, that is what would really start to push this economy, very quickly forward.