JEDDAH: The Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Dr. Reza Baqir held a webinar-conference with a vast spectrum of Saudi based Pakistani business community this afternoon and highlighted the rich facets of the ‘Roshan Digital Account (RDA)’ in the uplift of the country’s monetary & banking sector and the economy at large.
The event was attended by Deputy Governor State Bank Dr. Murtaza Syed, Ambassador of Pakistan to KSA, Lt. Gen. (R) Bilal Akbar, Consul General of Pakistan, Jeddah Khalid Majid and a select group of Saudi based Pakistani business community leaders, CEOs, bankers, financial experts, community notables and media representatives.
During the conference, Dr. Baqir highlighted the unique features of the RDA and said that it financially connects the Overseas Pakistanis with the country by facilitating their remittances. The participants were informed that more than 140,000 RDA accounts from around 150 countries have been opened while remittances of over 1.2 billion USD have been made in the past months. Speaking about the unique features of RDA, he said that ‘it offers flexibility in regulation without compromising on the standards and allows complete freedom to remit any amount at any time without any permission’.
On their part, participants of the conference shared their aspirations for the country’s economic progress and development and expressed their desire to play a positive role in the country’s economic progress and shared a number of proposals in this direction. Some members of the business diaspora also shared their anxieties towards the technicalities associated with RDA particularly for the majority blue collared Pakistani labour community in the Kingdom. The event concluded with a Q&A session where the SBP authorities further highlighted salient features of RDA investment opportunities including ownership of Islamic Naya Pakistani Certificates, Mutual Funds and Stock shares.
This web conference, jointly organized by the SBP, Embassy of Pakistan Riyadh and Consulate General of Pakistan Jeddah was a follow-up to the RDA related community event held on 9th May, 2021 during the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s recent visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.