ISLAMABAD: The Bank of Punjab (BOP) and Karandaaz Pakistan join forces in a strategic alliance aimed at revolutionizing Pakistan’s Agriculture Sector under Karandaaz’s inaugural Digital Financing for Agriculture (DFA) Challenge 2023.

The landmark agreement, inked on Monday, signals the commencement of pioneering initiative geared towards enhancing digital agriculture loans and fostering financial inclusion nationwide.

The agreement signing, held at a local hotel in Islamabad, was performed by Zafar Masud, President &CEO of The Bank of Punjab, and Waqas ul Hassan, CEO of Karandaaz Pakistan. Other notable attendees included, Sharjeel Murtaza, Director DFS Karandaaz, Asif Riaz, Group Head Consumer Banking, Nadeem Khanzada, Senior Joint Director of SBP and Qasim Javed, representing Techlogix alongside other senior management of BOP, Karandaaz, Agri, and Fintech Sector.

Zafar Masud, President & CEO of The Bank of Punjab, opined that the collaboration aims to overcome farmers’ financial hurdles. It not only aims to improve productivity but also addresses the challenge of loan securitization by offering collateral-free financing. By easing out the loan process and leveraging innovative solutions, such as real-time loan disbursement based on predictive AI assessments, the initiative is poised to empower farming community across the country, foster resilience and bring prosperity to the marginalized agriculturists.

Waqas ul Hassan, CEO of Karandaaz Pakistan, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating,“Banks are one of the most suited partners to address farmers’ access-to-credit challenges. The collaboration between Karandaaz Pakistan and Bank of Punjab represents a significant opportunity for demonstrating increase in the productivity of the agricultural value chains through digital inclusion of small farmers.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024