On Tuesday April 10th 2007, Canada-Pakistan Business Council hosted an exclusive lunch in honour of the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Madam Shamshad Akhtar, at the Bayview Country Club. The guests included; Consul General and Vice Consul of Pakistan, selected leading business members of CPBC, senior executives of several banks including the Vice Chairman of RBC Capital Markets, Andrew Scace and their Managing Director Ian Toone, Vice President Imtiaz Seyid as well as Chairman and CEO of Wealth Management TD Waterhouse, Bill Hatanaka.
Andy Merchant welcomed the Governor for accepting the invitation despite the short notice and her brief visit to Toronto. He talked about the role of the Business Council in enhancing the bilateral trade and the many agreements signed during the recent Trade Mission to Pakistan with Premier Dalton McGuinty.
The Governor enlightened the guests with her views and challenges facing Pakistan. She spoke about the growing economy, the ever expanding consumer market, the stable currency and the direction in which Pakistan is heading as one of the fastest growing markets in South Asia. She also talked about the Macro and Micro economy, successful privatization, especially in the Telecom and Banking sectors as well as the opening of the new Gawadar Port. These activities are attracting a lot of direct foreign investment and interest by foreign companies to serve Pakistan and the neighbouring countries. She was quite optimistic about Pakistan’s over all economy and the continued growth in the housing and the stock market sectors. She also elaborated on the role and the influence of the overseas Pakistanis as well as their foreign exchange remittances which have surpassed four and a half billion USD mark. Pakistan’s exports are now in access of eighteen billion dollars and the foreign reserves have grown over fourteen billion USD, which is a remarkable improvement in the last five years.
The Governor invited the Canadian bankers and businessmen to come and invest in Pakistan and enjoy the high profit returns to take advantage of the booming economy. Samir Dossal gave the vote of thanks and requested the Governor to come back again to address the larger gathering of CPBC members
Dr.Shamshad with Bill Hatanaka, Chairman and CEO TD Waterhouse, Andy Scace, Vice Chariman RBC, Mr.Tassaduq Hussain, Consul General, Vice Consul and bankers. |
Merchant welcoming Dr.Shamshad and other distinguished guests at the luncheon in her honour.
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Dr.Shahmshad and guests. |
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