With the economic and energy reforms, particularly CPEC, I expect Pakistan's economy to catapult to the next level - CEO, Unilever Pakistan Limited

Shazia Syed is the new Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of Unilever Pakistan Limited. BR Research last week decided to interview her and tried to get her opinion about FMCG sector and Pakistani consumer.

Unilever Pakistan is one of Pakistan's largest consumer products businesses with a brand presence that pre-dates the country's independence. She joined the Board in November 2015. Prior to this, Shazia was Chairperson, Unilever Sri Lanka Limited. She has held various senior management positions across most categories at Unilever Pakistan and other markets, including Unilever Vietnam as Business Unit Leader for Personal Care. She joined Unilever as a management trainee and has completed her 26th year in the organisation last year.

Besides being a director of Unilever Pakistan Limited, she is also the director of Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited. Shazia is an active advocate of diversity in the workplace and believes that enabling and facilitating working women from all backgrounds across all sectors should be every leader's top priority.

<B>BR Research: How different do you find Pakistan's business environment since the time you had left Sri Lanka?</B>

<B>Shazia Syed:</B> I am pleasantly surprised and reassured by the general positivity in the business environment. Pakistan's external perception is improving, economic indicators are stronger, the consumer confidence index is positive - and most importantly the general security environment has improved.

<B>BRR: To what extent Pakistani consumers are seemed to have changed their consumption behaviours in terms of health and convenience?</B>

<B>SS:</B> Urbanisation, growing youth population, media consumption and the advent of modern retail offering variety of brands has resulted in the evolution of the Pakistani consumers. The emergence of the middle class in the past few years has resulted in growing consumerism in the country with more and more people spending on their health and well-being. They are increasingly making healthier food choices.

An inclination towards foods with natural ingredients is also reflected by the rise of 'natural/healthy' claims taking centre stage in communications.

Similarly, recent trends have shown a sharp rise in preference of Ready-to-Eat and Ready to Drink versus Make-to-Eat and Make-to-Drink formats clearly addressing consumers' hectic schedules. The progress of frozen foods within the snacking segment also indicates a clear preference towards quick-fix meal solutions.

Consumers are now looking for a more multi-faceted shopping experience and that is evident in the growing popularity of self-serviced stores, department stores and malls across the country.

<B>BRR: The female consumer of Pakistan continues to evolve and become more empowered. How has that helped the Company?</B>

<B>SS:</B> For most households, it is women managing monthly groceries and household budgets. With women getting more empowered and stepping out, the role of shopper and decision maker is merging.

What this also means is that women now with more disposable income are not just spending on necessities but also on personal care. For an organisation like Unilever that caters to the personal care needs of our consumers, this additional focus brings more opportunities for growth and fuels innovation in products as well as creating new and improved shopper experience.

<B>BRR: The FMCG sector capitalises on urbanisation but how does it drive growth in the rural space?</B>

<B>SS:</B> The urban space remains a key focus because of a continuing evolution in lifestyles and the changes in the way people shop. In urban the sources of growth will be increasing consumption through up-trading.

Having said that, Unilever's focus on rural Pakistan is driven by the awareness that the 66 percent of Pakistan's population residing in rural offers the potential for unprecedented growth for decades to come. In addition, rural suburbs are growing and merging with the urban centres of the country making it even more important to seed our brands in rural Pakistan.

A key driver for our rural growth is the Perfect Village initiative, also known as "Mera Sona Gaon", which provides focused targeting of 7,000 villages where 50 percent of rural consumers reside.

<B>BRR: The tea segment has always faced stiff competition. What are your plans for tapping opportunities in the segment?</B>

<B>SS:</B> Our main challenge is the loss of revenues to cheaper smuggled tea. We will continue to support the efforts of the relevant authorities to curb smuggling. Non-traditional tea formats, including green tea, will remain an opportunity for our market.

<B>BRR: What are your views on Competitive Advertising?</B>

<B>SS:</B> It's all about consumer habits, attitudes and needs. Not just today but also tomorrow. The better we understand these, the more effective/competitive will be our advertising plans.

<B>BRR: E-commerce is on the rise globally and here. How has Unilever Pakistan entered the space so far?</B>

<B>SS:</B> We have entered into strong business partnerships with key e-retailers - our lead sponsorship of the "Black Friday" event with Daraaz is testament of our passion to build the e-commerce channel. We continue to invest in understanding the online shopper, building B2C capabilities, and forging stronger partnerships to be able to operate effectively and efficiently in this exponentially growing channel.

<B>BRR: How do you see the Pakistani market evolving over the next 5 years? And where are the opportunities?</B>

<B>SS:</B> With the economic and energy reforms, particularly CPEC, I expect Pakistan's economy to catapult to the next level. The country truly remains a land of opportunities. If we just take the example of FMCG Categories, Pakistan's per capita consumptions are a fraction of what we see in other developing markets, presenting a huge opportunity for businesses to develop over many years to come.

<B>BRR: How are you redefining the vision of the Pakistan business and what do you expect to be the key drivers for growth in the future?</B>

<B>SS:</B> Consumer, consumer and consumer - for me it will all be about serving the consumer needs of today and tomorrow. The expected economic boost and the rapid evolution of consumer habits and attitudes will be key enablers and present a huge opportunity for us to grow profitability and sustainability.