The Desi Buzz Editor & Publisher Dr.Tausif Malik spoke with Sharique Javaid Pakistani German Entrepreneur, Politician, and Community leader.
Dr.Tausif Malik: Thank you for accepting our invitation for the interview. You are a multifaceted personality, Entrepreneur, Politician, and Community leader, please give us your background for our readers and viewers.
Sharique Javaid: Thank you for inviting me, I am from Pakistan, I studied electrical engineering in Pakistan, then I went to Sweden to pursue my Master in 2009. At that time, Sweden was offering free education to everyone.
At my university campus, there were a lot of Indians, Pakistanis, and other Asians like Chinese & Iranians. It was a unique experience. Then I moved to Germany to do my Masters thesis in 2012 and started working as a software engineer with major corporations such as Siemens. Now, I am a full-time entrepreneur and have my own software company. I have developers from India and Pakistan and I have a German co-founder. It is very common, for people to come for higher education then they stay, but what is not common is that very few people start their own companies, but even it is lesser common is doing social work. I have a lot of social work behind me, I am the President of our State Cricket Board, and we have 30 cricket clubs, and we have Pakistani, Indians, and Bengalis playing in these clubs.
I’m also the founder of a cultural club, we do a lot of cultural events, and we also have a media group called Desi Media Deutschland. We registered a Film production company.
Three years ago, I joined German politics, I see negligible immigrants entering German politics.
Dr.Tausif Malik:Can you please share information about your ventures and your experience so people can learn from them? Last time we had Mr.Yogi, First Indian Japanese, politician, social leader, educator, and entrepreneur, he happens to be from my city Pune. He shared his experience and knowledge, similarly, share your experience and knowledge.
Sharique Javaid: It’s an inspiring story of Mr.Yogi, as not making people are going to non-English speaking countries. Indians and Desis have been migrating to English-speaking countries and they have access to mentors and experts. But people going to non-English speaking countries like Mr.Yogi going and excelling is a big achievement, especially being the First Indian and Desi Politician, it is totally different and unheard of. I am also doing a little bit uncommon starting a company and being a politician. I experiment in different aspects as an entrepreneur, social work, and cultural work and they are linked to politics.
Everyone’s objective in migration is to earn a higher income. I am passionate about meeting people and helping people solve their problems. I am still finding new ways, there is no fixed formula for success, maybe after 10-15 years I can comment on this. But I can talk about the business part.
People come to Germany to study on student visas, generally, people come to study master’s degree, previously there was no Masters degree taught in the English language.
Since, 6 years people are directly coming on work visas to work for IT companies.
Unlike US & UK, starting a company in Germany is difficult with a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of paperwork.
GMBH is something similar to a sole proprietorship or private Ltd. I started my first organization was social organization, as my first passion is social work. To help people I needed to addend meetings between 9-5 and this would affect my job. So I wanted to be independent, so started an IT company to earn my income. There was a shortage of IT professionals, so an outsourcing IT company was established.
There was no concept of IT sourcing to other countries, as the organization wanted direct hire and german speaking team members. So, said we would be the bridge between them and this helped us in our business growth.
As I mentioned to you earlier, I also do events and we got a group of Indian and Pakistani singers and it has taken off very well. I have been getting higher demand to host events and invite Starts like Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Dr.Tausif Malik: Foreigners can set up companies in US and UK with very little registration fees, Does Germany offer easy registration of companies?
Sharique Javaid: It is 100% the opposite. Like in the USA, while studying or working you can start a company, here it is difficult to start a company while on a job.
Like foreign students, who come to study are highly motivated, they want to risks and establish startups, businesses or restaurants, but they cannot do that. It’s very unfortunate even freelancing is not allowed.
You can only start a company when you are on a Permanent Resident visa.
Some Indian and Pakistani students are registering companies in UK or US and we are also suggesting this to foreign students and also Estonia, as Estonia is part of the EU.
Dr.Tausif Malik: Can foreigners register a company with a German Partner?
Sharique Javaid: Yes, you need one co-founder in Germany, but a business visa is difficult for South Asian countries. If they have a Western passport then it is easier to travel.
Dr.Tausif Malik: What is the minimum cost to set up the company?
Sharique Javaid: For Sole Proprietorship is 50 Euros, but you need to be Permanent Resident or citizen, for Private limited (GMBH) is 400-500 EU with a capital of 25000 Euro, with the process taking a few weeks. There is a mini GMBH called UG the cost is only one Euro, and the rules, regulations, and compliance is the same. But the objective of the company is to start UG and save capital to convert into GMBH.
All paperwork is in German paperwork, some consultants can help in the process.
Dr.Tausif Malik: Explain to us, what is the process from being a student, to earning a work permit then, Permanent Residency, and finally citizenship.
Sharique Javaid: When compared to the US, the work visas in Germany is easier, earlier it was difficult, but due to a shortage of manpower the government has made it easier.
Here in Germany, the student gets one and a half years to find a job. In fact there is no university tuition fees and the only thing the student incurs is lodging and boarding cost. They can work at retail stores or outlets.
Once a student completes his education, he can go to immigration and easily convert into a work visa.
Only after working for two years, you can apply for Permanent Residency. B1 Level German language is the criteria.
If you are married then you can apply for a family union visa for your spouse living in India, Pakistan, or back home. It is very easy to get your spouse and children to Germany.
On a work visa, you are not allowed to start a business, only when you get your Permanent Residency then only you are eligible.
There is something called Blue Card, it is for direct hire from foreign countries. After 21 months holders of Blue Card can apply for Permanent Residency. But a visa is easier these days. Due good bilateral relationship with India, it has opened new opportunities. Recently Siemens and Airbus have bagged big contracts from India.
Dr.Tausif Malik: Give insights about Cricket in Germany.
Sharique Javaid: All immigrants from South East Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Afghanistan, we all play cricket here, its a wonderful experience. It binds us together.
In Germany like IPL, we have the German T20 league.I was for two years director of the league. During my tenure, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we could not hold the tournament.
In 2015, the German borders were opened for refugees, and a lot of Afghanis came to Germany some of them were born and raised in Pakistan. There we few clubs, but it has grown to over 30 clubs.
Bavarian Cricket Club board members consist of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Afghanistan origin members.
Unfortunately, there are no cricket stadiums or there are no pitches at general stadiums, so on the weekend, we have to roll the pitches to play matches. We use wooden planks, and nail them to make pitches.
Every year the National team is selected and the German team has emerged as the best Cricket team from continental Europe. Holland is one of the best teams. The national team is not paid.
Dr.Tausif Malik: There are Desi Pockets or Neighbourhoods in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, in our last interview with Mr.Yogi he mentioned that his city has a Desi population. Are there any Desi Pockets or Neighbourhoods in Germany?
Sharique Javaid: There are no Desi Pockets or Neighbourhoods in Germany, As the South Asian Desi population is less than 700,000 and the German population is 90 million, in US and UK there is a higher percentage of South Asian Desi population which results in Desi Pockets or Neighbourhoods in Germany. Here there are Turkish Pockets or Neighbourhoods in Germany, as their population is 9-10 million.
There is a recent influx of IT professionals and that has increased the numbers.
In fact there is only one big Indian restaurant in Munich operated by Bangladeshis.
Dr.Tausif Malik: What kind of business and professional sectors the Desi Community of Germany is involved in?
Sharique Javaid: Historically, the South Asian community has always migrated to English-speaking countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Australia & New Zealand.
It is recently that South Asians have migrated to Germany. Many of them think it’s a stopover to move to another country due to language & cultural barriers. I know some people migrated to the USA, and some have gone back home.
Here the Punjabis are mostly into trade and restaurant business and South Indians are mostly IT professionals but lately, they are establishing IT companies.
Recently, Mr.Abrar, a Pakistani-origin German Vlogger, made the India series and because of this became a huge celebrity. Before this, I never heard of any Desi person from Germany so famous.
Abrar is my very good friend, recently I went to Saudi Arabia and my brother showed me the videos of Abrar. His India tour was amazing and the response was amazing. I thought after his Abrar would not pick up my phone. I called him and he immediately answered my phone. He is a very humble person.
Exposure, helps people remove negative or stereotyped images created by people and media for votes, let me share my view on Indians – Pakistanis, I went to Sweden for my Master and in a class of 150, there were students from India, Pakistan, Bangladeshi, and other Asian countries.
There were 15 Pakistanis,15 Indians, and 10 Bangladeshi, as I was one of the active persons in the group.
Within a week, we all realized that we have struggled with language, weather, food, and culture, we all bonded together very well, there were no biases that someone is from India or Pak and Bangladesh.
Cricket and food bonded us…In fact I have seen the best friends have been with all the Desi Community.
Thank you for the interview, we can conclude the interview with this happy note.
