"Developing Tomorrow’s Business Leaders"
“Developing Tomorrow’s Business Leaders” was the overriding theme behind the Citi Foundation-sponsored seminar on “Introduction to Risk Management” organized for students of finance and banking, in collaboration with The Institute of Business Management, Karachi, (IoBM).
Risk management has acquired particular significance in finance and banking both globally as well as in Pakistan. In line with its objective of developing the local sector through transfer of expertise, Citi arranged the nine-day seminar with a view to impart “lessons learned” from the events of the global financial crises. Sessions were based on real business cases and scenarios and the recent financial cycle formed a backdrop to all discussions.
Funded entirely through a Citi Foundation grant of US$ 25,000, the seminar took place during the academic winter break, the program was held at the Business Support Center, IoBM with 30 students from Karachi, Lahore, Sukkur, Quetta, Multan, Islamabad and Peshawar. Nominations were invited from business schools across the country to ensure participant diversity and maximum reach.
An excellent faculty comprising existing and former Citi experts had been lined up for the program including President of Royal Bank of Scotland, Pakistan, Shehzad Naqvi; President Tameer of Microfinance Bank, Nadeem Hussain, political and investment advisor Yousuf Nazar, Country Officer and Managing Director of Citi Tanzania, Omar Hafeez, Consumer Bank Head of NIB, Naseer Hasan, and senior members of Citi Pakistan including MD and CCO Arif Usmani, Director & Corporate Bank Head Aziz Rahman, Consumer Bank Head Azim Alvi, Treasury Head Saquib Ayub, Head of Global Transaction Services Minaz Bhuiya, and F.I. Head Mona Naim Khan.
Executive Director of IoBM, Talib S. Karim, said, “We commend Citi for providing this opportunity to students from across the country and are appreciative of the speakers’ contribution towards making this a meaningful and learning experience for them.”
A student of Multan said, “This has been a tremendous learning experience. Each day we were asked to tackle a different case with some of the most renowned experts in the market – we’re amazed at the high standards of instruction.”
Another participant from Quetta said, “This is probably the first time universities from outside Karachi and Lahore have been invited to send their students to a forum of this caliber – this has been an extremely active program, with lots of discussions and debates and I speak for all of us when I say that this has been a wonderful opportunity.”
Speaking at the seminar, MD and CCO for Citi Pakistan Arif Usmani said, “This program on risk is in line with our agenda to upgrade skills and create awareness among the next generation of business leaders. Great care was taken to ensure the quality of instruction and each session was cased based and interactive. Due credit must be given to the exceptionally bright and well informed students who attended this program – kudos to our universities.”
Citi has had a presence in Pakistan for the past 47 years and has been actively involved in the development of the local financial services sector and has a demonstrated record of transferring its expertise via training programs on corporate governance, treasury and trade products, anti-money laundering and compliance, among others. Citi conducted a similar risk management program in 2006 and has recently concluded a four-year US$200,000 research and learning initiative titled “Foundations of Corporate Governance” with the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
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