Pakistan's financial services on course of continuous inclusion and diversity.

Byline: Khalil Ahmed

Syed Ali Raza Bukhari: Prior to joining NITL as Head of SMAs, I have had the opportunity to set up and successfully manage a Pakistan Stock Exchange Member Brokerage Firm, bringing it up as an institutional trading platform. I have also been associated with the asset management industry for quite some time now, spreading my +15 years of specialized financial services experience into a diversified landscape of multiple professional domains like marketing/sales, advisory, distribution, product development and core operations. I have also had the honor to have represented our financial markets on myriad investment forums in Pakistan with a couple in UAE and China, alike.

PAGE: Could you give your views on the financial services in Pakistan?

Syed Ali Raza Bukhari: Broadly speaking, it goes without saying that our financial services industry has come a long way, atleast ever since I have gotten acquainted with it. Be it regulatory consolidation, structural fortification, procedural facilitation or the Fintech advancements. All the necessary aspects of our financial services industry have shown phenomenal growth and maturity with complete harmony, keeping up with the needs of continuous inclusion and diversity. I have always had a palate for digitization and to improvise, I must say that we are headed in the right direction.

Having been associated with a specialized field of financial services in Pakistan, I can say with all the confidence that the much needed and on-going Fintech revolution is fostering the precise environment that helps in flourishing optimum growth and confidence. It is imperative to mention that the government's inclination and support to nurture this tech-revolution is indeed the turning stone for manifold growth of the financial services industry in times to come.

PAGE: What benefits in general have the industries gotten from the financial services offered in Pakistan?

Syed Ali Raza Bukhari: I need not to mention but may be refresh the mere fact that the robustness of financial services should ideally serve as the requisite spine to bank on, for all the industries alike. More the merrier fits in just as precise as it could go. As I mentioned earlier, that the digitization revolution being introduced in the financial services industry is poised to spur and facilitate necessary growth and transparency in the economy. Holistically, every industry should benefit by starting from ease of managing businesses...