Institute for Art and Culture (IAC) conducted a seminar on the Digital and Financial Literacy of Youth. The objective was to create awareness among students to use digital platforms in an appropriate way.
The panel consisted of Deputy Chief Manager, State Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Tahir, Founder of CIRCLE, Sadaffe Abid, UN Women Officer Sidra Humayun, Chief Operating Officer (COO) CCER, Durre Shehwar, Registrar IAC, Brig (Rtd) Muhammad Safeer Vaseer, Founding Director of Agahe Pakistan, Mr. Mubarak Ali Sarwar and President at Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lahore Sam Ali Dada.
Registrar IAC, Brig (Rtd) Muhammad Safeer Vaseer welcomed the honorable guests and expressed the hope that students of IAC will play a vital role in the Digital and Financial Literacy of Youth.
Mr. Tahir explained the importance of education and the implementation of financial inclusion and financial literacy in society. The benefits will be a reduction in poverty, an increase in money security, and will create more employment opportunities. This will target lower and middle-class income people to make wise financial decisions in order to secure their future. To serve this purpose, the Government of Pakistan has introduced several programs.
The trend of digitalization can benefit the economy in several ways. State Bank of Pakistan has introduced different projects i.e. RAAST Mobile service, ASAN Mobile Account (AMA) where the financial transactions are made in a secure way digitally. The motive is to facilitate each citizen of Pakistan. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of woman’s empowerment for the growth of the economy.
Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CCER, Dur e Shehwar, appreciated the steps of the Government of Pakistan and encouraged the student to use ASAAN Mobile Account (AMA) for reliable and convenient transactions.
Sadaf Abid, founder of CIRCLE which is a social tech enterprise that aims to improve women’s economic empowerment. She shared about ‘’Digital literacy programs’’ offered in her institute have helped females to get financially independent and start up their own businesses from home. The right use of technology leads to numerous opportunities. President Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lahore Sam Ali Dada emphasized the need for woman’s empowerment for economic development.
Founding Director of Agah e Pakistan, Mr. Mubarak Ali Sarwar acknowledged the fact youth is initiating online business but also suggested that each business should be registered with the E-commerce chamber. This will help entrepreneurs to get loans if they need to expand their business activities.
Sidra Humayun from UN Women believed that for economic growth females and males should work together and their business activities should be followed up through legal procedure. Moreover, she encouraged financial management is an important skill to learn especially for females.
Mr Hamza Talib shared the presentation about the ASAaN mobile account and its salient features.
Warda Qamar, student of IAC conducted the event and In the end, a Q/A session was held and the shields were presented to honorable guest speakers.
