Governor's
Speech
Share Purchase Agreement with the Consortium of Chinese Exchanges
January 20th, 2017
Bismillah
Hon'ble Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister of Pakistan
Mr. Zafar Hijazi, Chairman SECP
Mr. Munir Kamal, Chairman, Pakistan Stock Exchange
Ambassador Peoples Republic of China
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alaikum and Good Morning!
I am very thankful to Pakistan Stock Exchange to invite me today at this
historic occasion in our economic history. Can a single word be used to describe
the prosperity of developed countries in the past few decades? If I were to answer
this question, I would say In this global world, it is not possible for
collaboration.
economies to grow in isolation. Hence, it should not come as a surprise to anyone
that the most successful countries are the one that work in tandem with their
neighbors and/or trading partners. Pakistan and China are taking that exact path
beyond which a great future awaits!
Before I move any forward, please allow me to take you to a short visit
down the memory lane when Pakistan economy was challenged with multiple
headwinds. Be it war on terror that led to lower than desired security situation in
the country, energy shortfalls, insufficient foreign exchange reserves, or lack of
foreign investment; we have rebounded strongly than what was anticipated of us.
With adequate economic policies and the assistance of international agencies, we
have firmed up our feet on the ground. However, we did not stop there; we
continued with our efforts to take our economic growth and public well-being to a
higher level. To achieve those goals, Pakistan required the necessary impetus in the
form of capital investment and opportunities. This is where the role of our closest
friend and ally China has been instrumental!
It is an applaudable step of a country like China to get integrated with the
rest of the world. For this purpose, the country has rightly focused on the strategic
location of Pakistan. The investment of China in Pakistan as just one route of its
corridor has now begun a string of partnerships that would further strengthen the
bond between the two countries. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the outcomes of
those efforts is the reason that we have gathered here.
The signing ceremony of share purchase agreement by the consortium of
Chinese exchanges and local financial institutions is a surely a landmark event for
the Asian capital market. The investment of the consortium will not only enhance
-
the credibility of Pakistan Stock Exchange which let me remind you has been the
best performer of Asia in 2017, but will also make it accessible and desirable to a
host of investors across the world. To further add, the technological improvement
would be a further boost for trading within and outside the country. I am sure that
the partnership of Pakistan Stock exchange with China will bear fruits by
developing competitive and profitable securities and derivative products.
The local financial institutions in this consortium have an important role to
play as well. With the thorough understanding of the domestic markets and
wellpoised to assist their foreign counterparts, the consortium would be instrumental in
raising productive capital from both within and outside Pakistan. This capital
would play a critical role for the corporate sector at a time when the
ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor is in full swing.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, ladies and gentlemen. With proper
planning and execution, such future collaborations could be game turners for all
the stakeholders. Not only would this help raising the economic growth of the
country, but will also unlock the business-to-business and person-to-person
barriers, and may be a good avenue to learn from each other in various fields such
as banking, engineering, transportation, telecommunication, energy, and many
more. To sum up, the possibilities are limitless.
The key, ladies and gentlemen, would be to have an open mind and learn
from the experiences of such co-ordinations in other parts of the world like the
Trans-African Highway network, Pan-American and Pan-European corridors.
Our year on year LSM growth in Nov 2016 is 8.1% compared with 4.5% in
Nov 2015. Private sector credit expanded by Rs. 376 billion and is broad based in
July-Dec FY 17 compared with Rs 283 billion in corresponding period 2016. Such
good news will contribute to PSX and the investors sentiments.
In the end, I would like to thank you all for your time, and congratulate you
for making this step a success. God Bless!