Queen Maxima In Pakistan: February 9-11

As special advocate of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Inclusive Finance for Development, Her Majesty Queen Maxima paid a three-day visit to Pakistan from Tuesday February 9 to Thursday February 11.

The first day of the visit, Tuesday February 9, the Queen had a meeting in Islamabad with Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. Then Queen Maxima attended at the launch event of the “Pakistan’s Path towards Universal Financial Access”, organized by the World Bank Group, the United Nations and the State Bank of Pakistan. The purpose of this initiative is to to secure public and private sector commitments to achieve universal financial inclusion in Pakistan. At the event, among the others were present the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar and the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Ashraf Mahmood Wathra. In her speech Queen Maxima praised the efforts made in Pakistan to improve financial inclusion and she also stressed the importance of government, businesses and international partners to provide support for the Pakistan’s strategy.

In the afternoon the Queen had several meetings. She was received by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif and later she attended a meeting of the “National Council for Inclusive Finance” along with the Minister of Finance, Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar. The topic of the meeting was the financial inclusion strategy for Pakistan. The first day of the visit ended with a dinner hosted by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar with the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif and other guests.

On Wednesday February 10, Queen Maxima visited Rawalpindi, a district in the province of the Punjab. During the visit,  The Queen visited the headquarter of the “Benazir Income Support Program” (BISP), a program that help women in the field of digital payment.
At the arrival the Queen was welcomed by Marvi Memon, Chairperson of the BISP, that explained to The Queen the initiatives of BISP about the e-commerce. Queen Maxima also had a chance to ineract with the women that use this program. During the visit Queen Maxima inaugurate an initiative of BISP, “BISP E-Commerce”, a program that provide a better access in the national and international markets to the handcraft products made by women.

#QueenMaxima of Netherlands inaugurating 'BISP E-Commerce' in Rawalpindi. Chairperson BISP @marvi_memon also present pic.twitter.com/FORkyol5rm

— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) February 10, 2016

Afterwards the Queen paid a visit to the First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) and met the women entrepreneurs and beneficiaries of the “Prime Minister’s Youth Loan Programme”, a program that helps for the socio-economic development of youth. The Queen was accompanied by the Prime Minister’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and Leila Khan, Chairperson of the “Prime Minister’s Youth Loan Programme”. Last event of the second day was a roundtable meeting on the theme of “Future of Digital Financial Services in Pakistan” organized by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Queen Maxima started the third and last day of the visit, on Thursday February 11, with a visit at the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) headquarter in Islamabad where the Chairman of NADRA, Usman Mobin, informed the Queen about the services provided by the organization. Then she visited the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) headquarters along with the Minister of Information Technology, Anusha Rahman that briefed the Queen about the progress made by the country in the field of telecom and IT sectors. The last event of the visit was a meeting with the President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussein in the Presidential Palace. They talked about the overall situation of the Pakistan and the economic policies.

Queen Máxima was appointed in September 2009 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as his Special Advocate.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Inclusive Finance, Pakistan, Patronage, President Hussain of Pakistan, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, United Nations, Working Visit.