KARACHI: Speakers, at a webinar organized by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Karachi Branch, believed that Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) related services will improve Pakistan’s financial market infrastructure.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Karachi Branch on Wednesday organized a CIPS Webinar aimed to facilitate the cross-border RMB clearing and settlement, improve the service quality and efficiency of RMB clearing operation in Pakistan, and further explore the market with the advantages of RMB infrastructure construction.
Syed Ali Raza Director of Treasury Operation Department (TOD) of State Bank of Pakistan, Chen Yuncheng CEO of ICBC Karachi Branch, Xie Guoxiang Commercial Minister-Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, Wang Kun Deputy Director of Int’l Banking Department of ICBC Head Office, Xu Zaiyue President of CIPS Company participated in the webinar and given speeches. In addition, more than 100 participants mostly from local banks attended the webinar.
Chen Yuncheng the CEO of ICBC Karachi Branch presided over the meeting and delivered a welcome speech to the audience. Wang Kun Deputy Director of Int’l Banking Department of ICBC Head Office highly praised the excellent performance of Karachi Branch in business development and transformation in recent years.
Syed Ali Raza fully affirmed the contribution made by ICBC Karachi Branch in facilitating local enterprises and financial institutions in RMB clearing and settlement in recent years.
He congratulated ICBC Pakistan for becoming a direct participant of CIPS service. He hoped that this direct participation will result in time saving and quick response in case of any settlement related queries from local banks.
Ali Raza said that it will also add to the overall efficiency since ICBC Pakistan would not require any intermediary in the on-shore market in China.
He further said that the provisions of CIPS related services in our local market will improve Pakistan’s financial market infrastructure, especially in terms of increasing efficiency of the local banking system in relation to CNY transactions, enhancing market liquidity and supporting SBP’s aim of providing a conducive policy and regulatory environment to encourage the use of local currencies in trade and finance.
Xie Guoxiang Commercial Minister-Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan appreciated the efforts made by ICBC Karachi Branch in cross-border RMB clearing infrastructure construction in Pakistan and placed high hopes on the development prospect of bilateral trade in RMB between the two countries in the future.
Xu Zaiyue, President of CIPS Company highly acknowledged and thanked Pakistan regulator and financial institutions for their contribution to the internationalization of RMB. After keynotes from invited speakers, lecturer from CIPS Company made a detailed introduction on the advantages and benefits of CIPS system and being a participant member.
ICBC Karachi Branch staff also introduced the development and efforts made by the branch in the RMB clearing infrastructure construction and shared operation guidelines to improve the efficiency of daily RMB clearing operation with local Financial Institutions.
The webinar enabled local banks to have a further understanding of cross-border RMB clearing operation, built a strong confidence on utilization of RMB for trade &settlement, and accelerated the progress of RMB internationalization in Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021