Profiles of the Resource Persons
Dr. Reza Baqir
Governor, State Bank of Pakistan
Dr. Reza Baqir was appointed as the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan by the President of Pakistan on May 04, 2019 for a period of 3 years.
Dr. Reza Baqir has eighteen years of experience with the IMF and two years with the World Bank. He was the Head of the IMF’s Office in Egypt and Senior Resident Representative since August 2017. He has also held positions as IMF Mission Chief for Romania and Bulgaria, Division Chief of the IMF’s Debt Policy Division, Head of the IMF delegation to the Paris Club, Deputy Division Chief of the IMF’s Emerging Markets Division, IMF Resident Representative to the Philippines, and numerous other positions.
Dr. Baqir’s research has been published in top journals of the economics profession, including the Journal of Political Economy and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Dr. Baqir holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and an A.B. (Magna cum Laude) in Economics from the Harvard University.
Mr. Zafar Masud
President and CEO, The Bank of Punjab
Mr. Zafar Masud is a seasoned banker and entrepreneur having over 27 years of proven track record of exceptional success stories in Banking, Development Finance, Energy, Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance. He has earned rich experience while being at top positions in multinational banks within and outside Pakistan; including American Express Bank, Citigroup, and Dubai Islamic Bank. His last assignment in banking was with Barclays Bank PLC, where he served as Regional Managing Director & CEO for Southern Africa, managing total balance sheet of US$ 3 billion and around 10,000 people.
Mr. Zafar Masud has contributed in the revitalization & transformation of National Savings, Ministry of Finance where he remained as Director General till 2018. He was instrumental in initiating a digital transformation of the organization with the support of Gates Foundation, FCDO (former DFID), USAID and World Bank. During his tenure, he successfully included differently-abled persons and Shahadah’s_ Families in welfare products of National Savings and set in motion the launch of Overseas Pakistanis Savings Certificates.
He has also worked as CEO (Interim) for InfraZamin Pakistan – a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), UK driven initiative – a first of its kind credit enhancement company for social infrastructure financing in Pakistan in local currency.
Other than serving as member of the prestigious Independent Monitory Policy Committee, he has also rendered his services as Director on the Boards of major public and private sector entities including State Bank of Pakistan, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (“OGDCL”), Port Qasim Authority, Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power (Private) Limited, Gadoon Textile Mills Limited, etc. He has remained a member of the IMF motivated Task Force on Framing SOE Law set-up by the Ministry of Finance. He also is the Convenor of a game-changer program of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan, called Kamyab Pakistan Program.
Since April 2020, Mr. Zafar Masud has been serving as President & CEO of The Bank of Punjab having a branch network of 640 branches including 105 Islamic branches. He is spearheading a strategic transformational drive to steer BOP towards digitally-motivated financial institution positioned in industry’s top-tier banks with focus on empathy/ compassion and the best in class corporate governance practices in the Country.
He is also serving as Chairman Board of Directors, a non-executive role, of Oil & Gas Development Company Limited. Earlier in May 2020, he had miraculously survived the PK8303 airplane crash in Karachi. Mr. Masud is a regular contributor to the local media on the topics of finance, economics and energy and is also an author of a publication “Out of the Box” which is a collection of his various newspaper articles on these topics.
Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan
MNA, Former Federal Minister for Commerce & Defence
Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from his native city of Gujranwala for a third successive term in 2018, having been elected previously in 2013 and 2008. During the 2013-2018 PMLN government, Khurram Dastgir Khan served as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Commerce. Before becoming a federal minister in January 2014, he served as Minister of State for Commerce & Textile Industry, Privatisation, and Science & Technology; as well as Chairman Privatisation Commission and Chairman of Federal Textile Board. Trained as an engineer at California Institute of Technology, Minister Khan also holds a degree in Economics from Bowdoin College; both in the United States. He is a Life Member of Pakistan Engineering Council.
