31 January 2007
Lord Mayor of world’s leading international financial centre
leads City visit to Pakistan
Lord Mayor of the City of London John Stuttard next week
(Tuesday) arrives in Karachi at the head of a business delegation
to strengthen business links with Pakistan.
Lord Mayor Stuttard, elected ambassador for the Square Mile City
business district which ranks as the world’s No. 1 centre for
international financial services, said:
“Pakistan is a growing and important global partner and its
financial services sector is a key part of this success. Pakistan
is transforming to a service-based economy, with strong foreign
investment, major infrastructure works and a sustained period of
good growth.
“The delegation includes representatives of key international
financial service firms and institutions and this visit to Karachi,
Islamabad and Lahore makes a new phase in Pakistan’s forward
progress.”
Included in the programme are special sessions on the financial
services sector (eg capital markets and links with London),
business training and standard-setting for financial services
education - and special session on law and business. The Lord Mayor
will also visit VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) projects and the
FLAME education charity.
The Lord Mayor will hold talks in Karachi with Governor Sindh Dr
Isharat Ul Ebad Khan, the Karachi City Nazim Mr Syed Mustafa Kamal,
Chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange Mr Zafar Khan, the Prime
Minister’s Finance and Economics Adviser Dr Salman Shah, State Bank
Governor HE Dr Shamshad Akthar and others, including business
leaders.
In Islamabad he will meet the Minister of Privatisation HE Mr
Zahid Hamid, the Prime Minister HE Shaukat Aziz, the Minister for
Water and Power HE Mr Liaquat Ali Joti, Dr Salman Shah, and the
Federal Minister of Commerce HE Humayan Akhtar Khan. In Lahore the
Lord Mayor will lead a special seminar on business education at the
Lahore University of Management Sciences and meet civic and
business leaders, including the City Nazim Lahore Mr Mian Amer
Mehmood.
The delegation includes leaders and representatives of the Lord
Mayor’s global “City of London – City of Learning” initiative*, the
Futures and Options Association, the London Stock Exchange,
international bankers and advisers, the Law Society of England and
Wales , the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Exeter University,
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and the
Securities and Investment Institute.
Lord Mayor Stuttard said:
“London is a global gateway for all those who want to develop
stronger links to international finance, markets and skills.
“Professional skills are hugely valuable to aspiring business
people in Pakistan and around the world because they offer a career
boost that is hard to beat – in effect, a passport to the growing
global industry of financial services.”
Lord Mayor Stuttard has launched the “City of London – City of
Learning” campaign backed by the British Council and UKTI to link
global centres with high-level professional institutions and
universities/business schools in the UK.
The Lord Mayor, who is the annually elected head of the City of
London financial services hub and is the global ambassador for all
UK-based businesses in the sector, visits Pakistan as part of an
11-day six-city regional visit that also includes Qatar and the
UAE.
For further information contact:
Greg Williams at the City of London Press Office is travelling with
the Lord Mayor and can be contacted on (via UK) mobile 07889 167
205
Download a JPEG image of the Lord
Mayor (3.5mb)
Notes for editors
- The Lord Mayor’s campaign steering group includes Sir Paul
Judge (Chairman), Sir Roderick Floud, Professor David Rhind and
representatives of HM Treasury, UKTI, the British Council and
IFSL.
The independent Anholt-GMI City Brands Index concluded that London
is the best place in the world to go for a valuable educational
qualification. With the support of the City of London
Corporation and International Financial Services London Lord Mayor
Stuttard has seen and consulted over 40 professional qualifying
organisations, business trainers and universities offering business
degrees and professional services training. Meetings have also been
held with representatives of HM Treasury, UKTI and the British
Council.
Download the report: The Competitive
Position of London as a Global Financial
Centre (1.8mb)
- The Lord Mayor is the annually-elected head of the City of
London Corporation which provides local government services for the
Square Mile, the financial and commercial heart of the UK, and
which is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the
business City as the world's leading international financial and
business centre through its policies and services. Its
responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and
include management of the Barbican Centre, Central Criminal Court
at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres of open space including Hampstead
Heath and Epping Forest, three wholesale food markets, as well as
acting as the London Port Health Authority. See also
-
More information about the Lord Mayor
REF: 15/310107gw(15)