Malaysian Firm to Reap Tremendous Profits from Pakistan

Discount telecoms services provider REDtone International Bhd said income from its new Pakistan venture may equal sales in the domestic market within three years.

Net income would “more than double” to about RM25mil this year from RM10.3mil in 2003, with a profit margin of 18%, which was sustainable, said managing director Wei Chuan Beng.

“Pakistan is a market that is as big, if not bigger, than Malaysia's,” Wei said after a televised interview with Bloomberg in Kuala Lumpur. “There is every reason for us to believe that Pakistan, once developed, can match the market of Malaysia in three years' time.”

So-called emerging markets like Pakistan, where only 3% of its 150 million population have phones, are deregulating their telecoms industries to boost competition and lower the cost of calls. An estimated six million Pakistanis live and work abroad, where wages are higher…