Page 296 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

It is because of the insights he gave me that I have realised the
greatest force for change in Pakistan is commerce. Not only does
the government have these immense internal problems to over-
come, but it is also dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 and the
insurgencies that has created. I have realised that economics and
entrepreneurs can be a real force for change in Pakistan, and that
is where I have concentrated my efforts in the past few years.
I have had similar conversations with Shaukat Aziz, who was
the Prime Minister of Pakistan before he stood down ahead of the
elections in 2008. He was in London during those elections and I
bumped into him at a function. It became clear that even though
he was no longer Prime Minister he was still being ushered from
one official function to another. He looked like he could use a
break, so I called the Pakistani embassy and asked if they would
give me his number.
Quite properly, they said they couldn’t do that but they could
get a message to him.
‘Well, would you please tell him that James Caan would like to
buy him lunch?’
To my amazement I got a call back from his office saying that
he was free the next Tuesday.
So I took him to lunch and we caught up on some of the projects
we had both been working on. Obviously the elections were a
major topic of conversation. Since the assassination of Benazir
Bhutto, who I had also met through friends when she had lived in
London, many predicted that the elections would result in civil
war.
‘What are you doing on the night of the elections?’ I asked.
‘Actually, I don’t think there’s anything in the diary that night.’
‘Then why don’t you come to our house for dinner?’
He accepted, and I also invited ten or so friends who have
connections with Pakistan. We had a terrific evening with the TV
on in the background as the results started coming through. I

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