Delay in shipments was the main grouse of merchants in the Middle East. The 50th part of a series describing the unknown triumphs and travails of doing international business

The mail to and from India generally took 15 days arrive, when it was being delivered by the postman; but because of the post box arrangement made, we began to get tonnes of mail within seven days, though some arrived after 10 days from posting in India. It appeared that my reporting was satisfactory, as some of the exporters who had the opportunity to speak to our chairman or secretary had appreciated the good work done and the efforts being put to improve services.
 
In course of my afternoon visits, I was able to meet some leading merchants, most of whom were acting as agents for supplies to Saudi Arabia. They included Globetraders (owned by MS Dewan), Paul Weil & Fils, Jamil Bajk and Amin O Rifai, to name a few. It was through the local agents, I was able to gather more information on the pricing of products by our competitors, and Samir from Paul Weil would happily supply me samples of pipe fittings from Taiwan which were superior in quality. Indian galvanized pipes were good, but he always mentioned that unlike Japan, which had no particular restriction on the quantity of half inch pipes, Indian manufacturers and their agents did not give more than 10% of the total value for this mostly used size in the construction industry.  He did mention that India was unbeatable in cast iron products and diesel engines, but for delayed shipments, we could achieve more!
 
As for imports into Lebanon, he always lamented on the poor shipping facilities and delays in commission remittance. As I regularly met VP Singh, our commercial attaché at the embassy, he had similar stories to tell and he felt that Indian exporters did not take the trouble to approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for permission to remit commission immediately upon booking the order. Besides, as there was no restriction for remittance of commission up to 5% of the fob value, he also felt that it was fundamentally the careless attitude of the exporter that caused delays.
 
Some of the Indian exporters who spent several days in Lebanon pointed out that their main problem was getting a visa to go to Saudi Arabia, though they were not much keen in going to that country, not only because of language, but also for problems created in the past by others in delayed shipments, etc.  
 
There was mail coming from my head office asking me to plan a visit to this market because of its size and importance. Armed with a letter of introduction and my own application, I submitted my documents for a visa. After a chat with the counsellor, I was given a visit visa for fifteen days, but after I paid some SR100 (riyals) as Religious Tax to SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency), because I was travelling during Haj time. I think at that time the Indian ambassador, who had just joined was Mr Abdullah, a former IG of Police from Madras, and Mr Fazul ur Rahman Bijli was the commercial secretary. I suppose it was good luck that all of us became good friends and were able to depend on each other for advice and support.
 
After visiting Jeddah for a few days, when I met leading importers like Ghulam Masood,Unitar (United Arab Agency) manager Karim, Mohammed Abdullah from National Commercial Bank, Bashaikh, Bamoudi and others. I got an idea of the market, its expectations and the problems they faced, which again, revolved around shipment delays, part shipments and poor packaging. Al Rajahi, though a large family-owned company with varied interests, was one of the few which were happy with the quality of diesel engines, but not happy with shipments!
 
I moved on to spend a few days in Riyadh before reaching Dammam, the second largest port, much closer to India. I realized the potential of this market, but the main problems were already known in terms of quality, full quantity, price and regularity of shipments. After a full working day in Bahrain, I moved on to Dubai on the last leg of my first overseas tour covering my beat. This market was full of Indian merchants and I was welcomed by Rohit Patel of Patel Trading Co, who were the sole importers of Sigil Diesel engines and a wide range of other engineering goods like MS pipes, fittings and pump sets, to name a few.
 
The sleepy village of Dubai was becoming a modern town as construction activity was taking place in several areas. I felt and agreed with Rohit that it may be good idea to have at least a sub-office of the council here, as the market was developing.
 
The visitors from India were now increasing, thanks probably due to the great number of enquiries that were being generated. Some of those with whom I had actually gone to negotiate business had confirmed the details to our head office, from where I began to get letters of appreciation for the good work done.
 
I had a chance to meet Munir Haddad, from Dresden Bank who was the owner of Commestra building from whom we had rented our office. I met him in Suleiman's house, a partner of Parekh, along with Meena Ghandour who travelled to Saudi Arabia and sold steel and allied products.  Rajagopalan, who had spent some time in Ethiopia and was associated with the Military Academy of the Haile Saleisse's government, was now with Maliban Glass Works, making bottles for the soft drink manufacturers of the Middle East, became friendly and had lots information and advice to give to make my work even more enjoyable than it was before.
 
Mooted by Casewa of STC, few of us joined to form a joint venture committee with a view to meet regularly and think of areas where India could profitably enter into the area of joint ventures, instead of being shop keepers in opening and operating shops of Indian handicrafts.
 
Although we had spent a few months in Beirut, we had not seen any of the historical sites or places of interest that a visitor would like. I had received a lot of information on Baalbek, the historical site and about the Grotto and Jeita caves in the mountains. Because of the distance, I had not travelled alone to the Casino du Liban on my own, except, when a couple of exporters made a special request that I accompany them. While they went and saw the floor show, I spent more time watching the games being played in various halls, like the slot machines and roulette. I neither had the money nor the knowledge to play in such a large and frenzied atmosphere.
 
As I settled down in the first few months of operation and the year was coming to a close, I was determined to establish my name in getting the job done in the area, and breaking through to increase our exports.

(AK Ramdas has worked with the Engineering Export Promotion Council of the ministry of commerce and was associated with various committees of the Council. His international career took him to places like Beirut, Kuwait and Dubai at a time when these were small trading outposts. From being the advisor to exporters, he took over the mantle of a trader, travelled far and wide, and switched over to setting up garment factories and then worked in the US. He can be contacted at [email protected].)