Dr Ishrat urges banks to hire foreign experts, gold medals given to 2 senior bankers

Banks should hire foreign experts, even if someone comes from India, who could impart their knowledge and skills which would be beneficial to banking industry. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Ishrat Husain suggested this while addressing the Prize Award Ceremony-2004 at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) on Wednesday. He said if any bank feels that Pakistani experts are not available for some new technology, it should go for hiring experts from all over the world whether from Malaysia, India or any other country.
"We are not narrow-minded, and can hire experts from anywhere in this age of globalisation and that would benefit the banking industry", said the SBP governor.
He appreciated the performance of banking industry, saying that even IMF-like institutions, which has in-depth knowledge of banking, praised the improvement in the banking sector.
He said the State Bank loses 30 to 35 staff each year. These SBP people go to commercial banks where they get 3 to 4 times higher salary than what they get from the State Bank.
"They get this job because the State Bank's people have the reputation of thorough professionals", said Dr Ishrat Husain.
He said now the bankers should continue to hunt for the knowledge and their promotions should be attached with the new skills and knowledge whether it comes from training or courses.
He announced that Zubyr Soomro, the country chief of the Citibank, has been awarded with the Qaid-e-Azam Gold Medal and Naeemuddin, member CIRC was awarded with the M.A. Muzaffar Gold Medal.
GOLD MEDALS: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Ishrat Husain awarded the Quaid-e-Azam Centenary Gold Medal-2004 to Zubyr Soomro, country head, Citibank, and the M. A. Mozaffar Memorial Gold Medal-2004 to Naeemuddin Khan, member (Banking), Corporate and Industrial Restructuring Corporation (CIRC), at a prize distribution ceremony held at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) here on Wednesday.
He also awarded IBP Gold Medal to former IBP chief executive M.M. Malik for rendering meritorious services to the banking sector in Pakistan.
The Quaid-e-Azam Centenary and the M.A. Mozaffar Memorial Committee, which met here recently under the chairmanship of SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Husain had decided to award the gold medals to Zubyr Soomro and Naeemuddin Khan in recognition of their dedicated and meritorious services rendered to the banking sector in Pakistan.
The 'Quaid-e-Azam Centenary Gold Medal for Banking' was instituted in 1976 as a part celebrations of Quaid-e-Azam's Centenary. The medal is awarded every year to a senior bank's executive who has, during his career in banking, made outstanding contribution to banking sector in Pakistan.
The 'M. A. Mozaffar Memorial Gold Medal' was instituted in 1964 in recognition of the services rendered by late M.A. Mozaffar to the cause of banking in Pakistan with a view to providing incentives to members of the banking community for outstanding services in the field of banking sector.
The medal is awarded to a member of the banking community who has, in the opinion of M.A. Mozaffar Memorial Committee, rendered outstanding services in furthering the cause of the banking system in the country.