KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited will officially represent Pakistan at the 18th Annual Council Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Interbank Association (SCO – IBA) scheduled to be held on August 23 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
According to the details, HBL Chairman Sultan Ali Allana will address the gathering. As the only commercial bank on this forum, and Pakistan’s largest bank, HBL is positioned to play an integral role in promotion of regional trade, investment, and finance.
The SCO-IBA is a multilateral regional body that encompasses a region that comprises 40 per cent of the world’s population. It has been making efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region, reduce poverty, and ensure food security. Business and economic opportunities between countries is the real potential of this organization.
HBL has been associated with SCO-IBA since 2014. Its presence on the body as the only commercial bank representing Pakistan is a milestone for Pakistan.
The creation of the SCO was announced in June 2001 in Shanghai. The SCO currently comprises eight member states including China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India. With a combined population of over 3.3 billion, the SCO member states cover nearly half the human population. It is the largest regional establishment in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population and is also one of the world’s most powerful organizations.
The SCO-IBA enhances sustainable development agenda through collaboration with multilateral institutions, working on unified approaches as a collective forum. This includes promotion of regional trade and investments and exploring new mechanisms to develop trans-national mega projects.
It may be recalled that HBL was the first bank from Pakistan to receive a license for setting up a branch in China. It was also the first South Asian bank to receive permission to set up its banking operations in Urumqi, the largest city in the province of Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan along the traditional Silk Route. HBL’s Urumqi Branch is now fully functional and the bank is in the advanced stage of consultation with Chinese banking regulator to open its second branch in Beijing.
Pakistan officially became a member state of SCO in June 2017. In 2018, HBL was officially granted the status of a member bank, during the 14th council meeting of SCO IBA held in in Beijing, China.
