, while attracting others to product and risk management and mitigation innovation and additional option that this window offers. ( iii ) recognizing that islamic finance has perpetuated and changed the dynamics of cross border private capital flow, this industry has great potential to augment the process of globalization and financial integration, but this requires more cooperation and vigilance on the part of home and host regulators. ( iv ) launching aggressive efforts to implement the evolving islamic financial regulatory and supervisory standards and capturing the different types of risks associated with islamic finance, while launching consumer protection frameworks. ( v ) promoting more financial diversification by encouraging financial innovation and islamic capital market development.

ashraf mahmood wathra : promoting innovative rural and agriculture finance in pakistan welcome address by mr ashraf mahmood wathra, acting governor of the state bank of pakistan, at the launching ceremony of the financial innovation challenge fund 2nd challenge round on “ promoting innovative rural and agriculture finance in pakistan ”, islamabad, 6 march 2014. * * * hon ’ ble federal minister for finance, revenue, economic affairs and privatization, senator muhammad ishaq dar, his excellency uk high commissioner, mr. philip barton, head of dfid pakistan, mr. richard montgomery, distinguished guests, speakers, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, assalamu alaikum and very good morning! i would like to express my gratitude to all the distinguished guests : the chief guest, honorable finance minister senator ishaq dar, representatives from the diplomatic community, development partners and agencies, government officials, agriculture chambers, representative of all banks, non - governmental organizations and agriculture sector stakeholders for joining us today. it is my great pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to all of you to this auspicious ceremony held to commence the launch of 2nd challenge round of financial innovation challenge fund, aiming to promote financial innovation for development of rural and agriculture sectors in pakistan. ladies and gentlemen! to quote thomas edison “ there ’ s a way to do it better – find it ” while defining innovation, this quotation clearly emphasizes on doing things in a unique and better way. therefore, tackling poverty also demands fundamental rethinking and innovation. the alleviation of poverty is a universal goal, to ensure prosperity, we as a society need to focus on inclusive growth, which requires fundamental innovation in designing financial models aimed at the poor segment of the society. distinguished guests! improving financial access to alleviate poverty is a global challenge. more than 2 billion adults in the world do not have access to formal or semi - formal financial services. at the same time, one billion people with mobile phones do not have even a basic bank account. as the costs of information and communications technology have now shrunk, the time is ripe for using technology to address financial exclusion. therefore, financial inclusion is one of the key pillars of the g - 20 ’ s development agenda. the g20 leaders at their korea summit in 2010 included “ innovation ” as one of the key principles for promoting financial inclusion. while urging the developing countries to cultivate a broad based government commitment to financial inclusion to help alleviate poverty, the