Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) celebrated International Women’s Day with an elaborate Gong Ceremony at the Exchange. Distinguished women leaders, executives, professionals and eminent women from different walks of life participated in the celebration.
PSX, along with UN Women, Women On Board (WOB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG) marked this auspicious day by ringing the bell for gender equality for a sustainable future. PSX joined more than a 100 exchanges all over the world to mark this important day this year.
The Ceremony included striking of the gong led by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Chairperson PSX; Ms Sima Kamil, Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan; and distinguished women of the country from various fields ranging from banking, financial, entrepreneurial, and corporate sector to designing, medical, and legal professions.
The gong striking was followed by speeches by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar; Ms. Zunee Muhtashim, Principal Investment Officer – International Finance Corporation; Ms. Maryam Baqir, Co-Founder – Women On Board, and Mr. Ahsan Jamil, CEO – Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. A prominent part of the Ceremony was a Panel Discussion followed by a Q&A session. Mementos were also presented to the participants of the event.
Speaking at the occasion, the Chairperson of PSX, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, stated, “International Women’s Day is a UN global compact initiative that lifts the ambition surrounding SDG5 on gender equality and its reinforcing components from leadership to empowerment.” She further stated, “In recent years, there is a growing recognition that nurturing capital markets ecosystem can facilitate financial inclusion process significantly.
An untapped but high potential area, the capital markets ecosystem, if structured effectively, will have high payoffs in terms of reducing gender disparities. Companies need to be rewarded for gender-equitable hiring.
At PSX, we encourage listed companies to report on ESG & SDG5 to promote gender equality and inclusivity. We at PSX look forward to working with Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, the World Federation of Exchanges’ (WFE) sustainability working group and with others to adopt gender equality goals and women empowerment efforts within the overarching ESG principles.”
