LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab (BoP) hosted a roundtable featuring a delegation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), business and industry leaders, bank’s customers and senior management officials.

The high-powered ADB delegation was headed by Takahiro Yasui, executive director for Japan and dean of board, ADB, and also comprised Weihua Liu, executive director for China, Sangmin Ryu, executive director for Korea, Noor Ahmed, executive director for Pakistan, Shunsuke Sakugawa, director’s adviser for Japan, Ronald San Juan, director’s adviser for Japan, Yong Ye, ADB’s country director for Pakistan, Yusuke Sekiguchi, JFPR fund manager, and Asad Aleem, deputy country director for Pakistan.

The roundtable was attended by leading business figures, including Yawar Ali, Shahid Hussain, Ms Roshaneh Zafar, Kabeer Naqvi, Ms Maheen Rahman, Ghazanfar Abbas Jilani, Anees Khawaja, Rashid Bajwa, Farooq Nasim, Tariq Saigol as well as the key management of The Bank of Punjab.

Yasui expressed his appreciation for the resilience of Pakistan’s economy and pointed out how important it was for Pakistan that the impetus for reforming the economy be driven internally and organically. He also stated how ADB would be willing to guide and engage with key stakeholders while making these structural changes in the economy.

Noor Ahmed, Executive Director Pakistan for ADB highlighted various challenges facing Pakistan’s economy right now and mentioned how even small incremental changes could make a big difference especially with reference to labour productivity, women work force participation and agriculture.

Zafar Masud, President and CEO of The Bank of Punjab, expressed the hope that ADB becomes involved more with the private sector, as its role could be crucial in facilitating financial inclusion through a comprehensive framework alongside the banking sector.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023