With many new faces joining the organisation, there was an urgent need to cut avoidable and ‘invisible’ expenses. The 13th part of a series describing the unknown triumphs and travails of doing international business in Asia in the seventies and eighties

When we managed to reach Kuwait, we found the airport was crowded like our own bus stands with people trying to leave the country. There was a great influx of foreigners arriving every day from Iraq who were trying to get back to their own countries. This was in addition to a whole lot of folks trying to leave for UK and Europe, anticipating the war may escalate into neighbouring areas, including Kuwait.

We reached Dubai a day later; after our internal discussions Vijay left for Agra while I delegated the responsibility of sourcing the new requirements from the market. We had sent a few trucks earlier and our accountant was happy that payments, too, were prompt and credited to our accounts.

I do not know how or when it started but we found that there was a growing tendency for government departments to call for supplies through tenders. It was not new as we had seen this before, but the only reason was that we did not have a responsible person to handle this matter.

It was just then, as luck would have it, I received a telex message from Krishnan, an old friend of mine from Calcutta. In fact, he was really a veteran in the field of steel, of which I had no idea worth talking about; he was well-versed in tendering and had extensive contacts in Hindustan Steel and many Japanese firms. Just as importantly, he was a senior executive working with VD Swami & Co, a leading export house, operating from Calcutta and Madras. He was a confirmed bachelor, a workaholic and a top professional of reputation, with unquestionable ethics.

We invited him to Dubai and he arrived three days later.  We had one day of closed-door discussions that lasted past midnight. He was back on the job next morning and stayed with us in the guest house. After arranging for a permanent visa for Dubai, he was on his way to set up the Hong Kong operations, which, in the later years took him to obtain business from Burma, some supplies of which came from Thailand as well.

It would not out of place to mention that VD Swami happens to be a distant relative of mine. He had begun his career as a steel merchant; but he was much ahead of his time in vision and thinking. In fact, I have heard it said that when VDS, as he was popularly called, envisaged the prospect of exporting steel out of India, some disgruntled exporters, mostly the guys manufacturing or selling ‘gamelas’ reported to have commented: “Here we are unable to sell even the simple items like gamelas for the construction industry, we have people like Swami saying we should export steel”. It was not long before VDS became India’s first exporter of steel rails to Sudan. Rest, as they say, is history! I have always admired and adored people who had such dreams, because they worked hard to fulfil it.

I may not be far wrong in mentioning other moves VDS group made. If I recall the names correctly, VDS represented some Howrah firms like Thakurdas Sureka, Goldsmithy Works and so on, which were leading foundries in Bengal. Manhole covers made from these foundries hit the London market and supplies continued for many, many years. Also, in the later years, apart from being an export house, VDS moved on to become a manufacturing centre for boilers and other related equipments for oil refineries and I was thrilled to hear the supplies being made to Iran for their refinery. DN Singha and RSI were other foundries with excellent workmanship and reputation.

Krishnan, with his vast experience, was filling the void we had in our setup and, in order to meet the supplies for Iranian merchants, there were more new faces in the office, and our office was bursting at the seams and our budget going through the roof. There was an increasing gap between income and expenditure and a drastic cut in avoidable and ‘invisible’ expenses became imperative. Deadwood had to be removed immediately.

Reluctantly, Ajay had to take this responsibility; Mehernoosh Khoury, another workaholic with integrity, was doing a wonderful job on the local sales and our overall work moved towards great success.

Shipments from India were erratic due to delays in Bombay port; pig iron supplies were improving and some of the export houses who managed to get supplies from nearby sources, including Pakistan, made good profits. In the meantime, the Jebel Ali port, the world’s largest man-made port, capable of berthing 100,000 tonne liners came into operation, thanks to the great vision of Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum. Even today, everyone in the Gulf would talk of Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum with great love and respect. As he has passed away, we pray that he may rest in peace. 

(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].)

You may want to read more:

•  Dubai Landing...
• Dubai Landing—teething troubles
• Job Change—competition from Chinese products
• Market conditions: Dealing with errant buyers and shortage of supplies
• Northward to Beijing: Our first encounter with Chinese bureaucrats
  

• Pig iron contract; signing of our first deal with the Chinese
  
• OGL cancellation and back up from other suppliers
• Sorting out supply delays with irate customers
• Iran-Iraq War: Seizing business opportunities in Kuwait
• In the midst of the Gulf War: Travelling from Safat to Basra
• Baghdad to Kirkuk: Resolving a client’s complaint in the oil city of Iraq
• Kirkuk to Baghdad: Mission accomplished!