By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi hosted Queen Maxima of the Netherlands at the Foreign Office on Monday.
“Hosted HRH Queen Maxima in her role as UN Sec-Gen’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development at MoFA for a great exchange on Inclusive Finance for women specifically, where she met Pakistani powerhouses working at grassroot level for financial empowerment of women,” he tweeted.
Queen Maxima along with a six-member delegation landed at the Islamabad airport via flight TK-711.
She was accorded a warm welcome by officials of the Foreign Office and Dutch embassy.
During her stay in the capital city, according to a statement, she will call on President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan besides meeting with a range of stakeholders from the public and private sectors.
Queen Máxima will also attend the launch of the Micro Payment Gateway, an initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan aimed at reducing the costs of small payments and boosting digital transactions to benefit people and promote financial inclusion.
The Netherlands’ queen has been the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) for Inclusive Finance for Development since 2009.
Meanwhile, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and United States Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development Queen Maxima on Monday chaired a meeting on the financial inclusion after arriving in Islamabad.
Speaking on the occasion, the queen said Pakistan has made advancement towards the financial inclusion but still more needs to be done.
She stressed the need for use of technology to bring improvement in the financial inclusion.
The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the UN Agencies, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
The Queen is scheduled to meet President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, besides engagements with a range of stakeholders from the public and private sectors. It may be added that inclusive finance for development is one of the key priorities of the Government of Pakistan for which it has taken a number of steps. The queen has been the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development since 2009. In this capacity, she is actively engaged worldwide in promoting access of individuals and enterprises to financial services at a reasonable cost, with the aim of improving economic and social development opportunities.
Queen Maxima had earlier visited Pakistan in February 2016. Earlier, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands arrived here Monday on a two-day visit. She was received at the Nur Khan Air Base by senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the embassy of Netherlands.
Queen Maxima is visiting Pakistan in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) for Inclusive Finance for Development. During the visit, Queen Maxima will call on the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, besides holding meetings with a range of stakeholders from public and private sectors.
Queen Maxima will also attend the launch of the Micro Payment Gateway, an initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan aimed at reducing the costs of small payments and boosting digital transactions to benefit people and promote financial inclusion. Queen Maxima as UNSGSA since 2009 is actively engaged worldwide in promoting access of individuals and enterprises to financial services at a reasonable cost, with the aim of improving economic and social development opportunities.
