Pakistan’s missing multinationals

Dawn published an opinion piece by the chief executive of Sentinel Group asking why Pakistan has so few multinational companies. The writer notes that family businesses have succeeded across textiles, cement, fertiliser, pharmaceuticals and other sectors at home, yet rarely buy or build firms abroad. The UN Conference on Trade and Development's World Investment Report 2025 put Pakistan's outward FDI at $153 million in 2024, against inward FDI of $2.57 billion.

The article puts the gap between inward and outward investment at about one to seventeen, and names Lucky Cement's facilities in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo as an exception. The writer treats overseas expansion as the clearest test of whether domestic success can travel, since family reputation and political ties count for little abroad.

The piece calls on heirs of established business families to consider acquisitions and global brands instead of only preserving inherited capital. It also urges policymakers to distinguish capital flight from productive overseas investment by Pakistani companies, which it says can bring expertise and networks back home.