Following the success of setting up the garment factory at the Jebel Ali Fee Zone, Finetex was invited to set up a joint venture plant in Muscat. The 23nd part of a series describing the unknown triumphs and travails of doing international business

The garment factories in the Jebel Ali Free Zone worked on a systematic basis and had no problem in getting the overseas staff, as visas were made available on request.

In fact, on one occasion, we got into serious problems. As per our standard practice, photocopies of the visas were sent to Haji Cader and based on that he would arrange the seat booking in the airlines and intimate the same to me by fax the names of pax so that I could take the original visa to the airport for clearance. We had a standby officer on duty at the Free Zone, in case we got into trouble of any kind, as names of Sri Lankan boys and girls were long and similar.

The flight time to Dubai was roughly three hours.  So, upon check in and flight departure, I would get the confirmation of pax, vis-a-vis the ID numbers we had provided for each new employee coming in. It so happened, that on one particular occasion after the flight left, we had a wrong Kusumawati on the flight, with the photocopy of a Kusumawathi who could not make it.  Now, as you can watch, the difference is “h” in the last part of the name, and, we know it would be really difficult to get her out of immigration, and rightly so. 

I rushed back to Free Zone office, explained the predicament; Mohammed Sharif in the administration assisted, and I was assured that someone from the office would meet me at the airport, with a new visa for Kusumawati who was on the flight! Without the official visa, the poor girl would be bundled back to Sri Lanka; if not, at best, she would have to spend overnight in the immigration office, until we produced the visa the next morning, if the OSD (generally the Director of Immigration) specially gave such permission. Thankfully, thanks to the prompt assistance, Kusumawati was cleared and reached the camp same day!

In the meantime, as our reputation was spreading far and wide, our orders were increasing and we were getting new and balancing equipments to meet the demands of the orders, which had progressed from simple T-shirts, to heavy-duty cold weather jackets for use in snow conditions. We had no scope to expand in the Finetex plant at Dubai.

One fine day, Zubair turned up and said that he wanted me to visit Muscat immediately and meet a businessman who wanted to get into a joint venture with us. I left for Muscat the following day and met the prospective partners, inspected their site and tried to make an assessment. At that time, there were couple of factories, including Gulf Industries (from the Free Zone, where I had just begun my garment career!) and the scope for development and export was vast.

A few days later, Piyasena Perera joined me for a technical assessment of the site. We spent two days to make up our mind about the feasibility of operation. One of the partners in the Muscat venture was an important high-ranking government official. Perera left, and I had to work out the plans, and stayed on for a few days more to work out the details and logistics.

On my return and submission of my report and assessment, Zubair confirmed the deal and about one week later, we had the industrial license in the name of Elegant Garments.

For easy reference, let us call the local ‘working’ partner as Abdullah.  He had a large house, which had a basement, a road level showroom, and first floor had a few large rooms. The terrace was open. I had to convert this building into a compact manufacturing unit, including housing facilities for some 200 odd staff members, at least 20 of them would be men. 

The distance between Muscat and Dubai on the highway is 440 km. The managers must also have road travel permits, so that they can travel to Dubai at short notice without any hindrance.  On the top of these, I had to arrange for catering facilities for the entire complement of 200+ staff.

Equipment wise, it did not take more than two days to place the order, and was promised delivery in 10 weeks. Right from cutting tables, all other related wooden furniture had to be specially ordered and made, to cover the factory requirements. A separate team was sent from Dubai, who would arrange for complete electrification of the site to convert the large halls into factory sites suitable for a garment factory. 

The carpenters had to take the necessary measurements to ensure bunker beds were prepared to utilize the maximum space in each of the rooms in the first floor. They had to make long benches and tables for the dining hall. There was an endless list and setting up a new factory in a totally new environment is not easy. We had to  set all these in place in less than 10 weeks and had to bear in mind that the technical team would come just the day after the goods are cleared from port, so that the Juki machines can be assembled and be ready for use in a few hours.

Once the commitment was made I flew back to Dubai and arranged to travel back by car with my land entry permit. It was decided that, as Muscat merchants come to Dubai to buy their requirements in bulk, we would be better off economically to have the goods manufactured by the carpenter in his workshop, and only return back to do the final finishing in Muscat.  

Likewise, electrical contractor made the survey and returned to Dubai so that they could fix it some 10 days before the machinery arrived; I had arranged to give the contracts to the same bidders who did our jobs earlier.

Piyasena left for Colombo, immediately upon my return; Haji Cader had already publicised our requirement for staff on both TV and radio, and as Finetex had secured a very high reputation in the market we had an unmanageable crowd of applicants. Perera returned back, with a full complement of staff and as he had a hand in finalizing the machinery list, we were confident that we would not even face teething troubles in this plant.

On schedule, exactly 110 days after the agreement was reached, we were ready for the plant to become operative. Our local partner Abdullah had no difficulty whatsoever in getting the required visa. Every Gulf country, by now, was copying the lead set up by Dubai, in setting up garment factories everywhere. 

It was Zubair’s turn to arrange for my departure to Muscat. He made it clear, that if I was willing to take care of the plant in Muscat, he would even go for discussion with Abdullah for this joint venture, which, in real sense, was that we were doing all the investment, and Abdullah was lending his ‘name’ for a partnership fee. We had another silent partner too, who remained in the background.

When the advance team arrived, it was Perera who went first and I joined him a day later. I had to take care of the team and in Piyasena’s presence all machinery were inspected and accepted.  In the following three days, the bulk of the staff arrived and it was possible to start production by the fourth or the fifth day. We had a plant manager and his deputy (woman) who had years of experience behind them and whom Perera knew personally and had selected the staff with great care.

Our direct orders booked by us at Finetex (for children's clothes I think, for Wal-Mart) were the first ones to be manufactured here. From day one, our production in this plant was in full swing; I had an office in the first floor and a separate accommodation attached to the office.  I joined the staff in the mess in the basement. We all had a minimum 10-hour production schedule every day.

I had two assistants, Francisca and Nancy, who helped me in doing my job in Muscat.

In less than three weeks after the production began, we made our first direct shipment to the USA. After this, I drove back to Dubai to be with my family for a couple of days, and returned back on a Monday morning after a visit to the Finetex plant, leaving there at about 9am and arriving in Muscat plant by about 1 30pm for a lunch with the staff.

Life in garment industry was not easy.  

(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].)