Dr Shafiq Qaadri, Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier of Ontario, Canada, visited the Karachi Stock Exchange on December 22, where he performed the opening bell ceremony.
He was accompanied by President of Canada Pakistan Business Council (CPBC) Samir Dossal. Khalid Awan, Chairman of the TCS Group and a director of CPBC was also present on the occasion. KSE Managing Director Nadeem Naqvi and Abid Ali Habib welcomed the Canadian delegation alongwith senior management of the Exchange.
In his comments, Dr Qaadri highlighted that there were around 350,000 Pakistan origin Canadians in Ontario and now the third and fourth generation were taking their place as productive members of society in a wide variety of professions, businesses and vocations. Many such Canadians feel strongly about contributing to the betterment of the people of Pakistan. This group is also a natural bridge in promoting commerce and trade between the two countries.
Dr Qaadri identified several areas where co-operation between Canadian and Pakistani businesses offered potential benefits to both sides. These included the power sector, fertilizer sector, education sector and the agriculture sector. He felt that with consistent efforts these areas could attract investment and technical know-how from Canada to Pakistan while Canadian business could benefit significantly from a large and growing middle class of consumers in Pakistan, estimated to be over 30 million.
Samir Dossal, President, Canada Pakistan Business Council described the efforts of the Council in developing links between trade and industry of both the countries and the Council's organisation of trade exhibitions as well as conferences related to Pakistani products. He expressed his hope that increased interaction between Canadian and Pakistani business communities and civil society would greatly help in promoting trade and closer economic relations between both countries.
Nadeem Naqvi, MD, Karachi Stock Exchange, thanked Dr Qaadri and Dossal for taking time out from their busy schedule and visit KSE. He presented the dynamics of Pakistan's Capital Market and its superior performance whereby KSE-100 Index was amongst the Top-5 best performing market indices for the last three years rising by 49 percent in both 2012 & 2013 and by 23 percent in 2014. The companies constituting the KSE-100 Index had an average earnings growth of 22 percent for the last four years and displayed a return on equity of 18-22 percent during this period.
Naqvi highlighted some of the initiatives underway at KSE including a cloud computing supported internet-based trading platform that can be accessed via multiple media channels including mobile phones; and formulation of regulations for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segment at KSE where smaller companies can raise long term capital. He said that such new facilities should provide interesting investment opportunities with convenience to non-resident Pakistanis.
Dr Qaadri and Dossal invited KSE to bring a delegation to Canada in 2015 and offered to facilitate an investment conference where investors and businesspersons from both countries would get an opportunity to explore mutually beneficial business possibilities.-PR
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