Seminars and Distinguished Lectures

School of Economics - Seminars and Conferences - Seminars and Distinguished Lectures

Distinguished Lectures and Seminars

Seminars and distinguished lectures are important for students. They give useful insight information of government policies and current economic challenges. In this regard SOE occasionally invites the renowned economists and academicians for inspirational talks and informative seminars. A summary of seminars and lectures organized in 2016 and 2017 is given below:

  • A delegation from London School of Economics and Political Sciences headed by Prof. Craig Calhoun (President LSE) visited School of Economics Quaid-i-Azam University. Craig Calhoun delivered a talk on LSE, South Asia Centre and its future engagement with Pakistan. (February 22, 2016)
  • School of Economics in collaboration with US Embassy Islamabad organized a one day seminar on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The main focus was on the role of IPRs in Economic Growth. In this regard experts on IPRs including Mr. Rob Garverick (Economic Counselor, US Embassy, Islamabad), Mr. Ameen Imam (IP Attorney, Enforcement, United States Patent and Trademark Office), Ms. ShilpiJha (Senior Intellectual Property Counsel, United States Patent and Trademark Office) and other experts presented their views on the overview and role of IPRs in Economic Growth (February 23, 2016)
  • Naeem-uz-Zafar, Member Social Sector, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms delivered an honorary lecture at School of Economics, QAU. He talked on the knowledge gaps in policy development for social and real sectors. Students of M.Phil (1st and 2nd semesters) attended the lecture. It was an informative talk. Dr. Naeem highlighted many research areas for the students and faculty. (May 3, 2016)
  • School of Economics (SOE), Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) organized a Pre-Budget Seminar. Dr. Muhammad Idrees, Director SOE in his welcome note mentioned that this is the first ever pre-budget seminar organized by SOE. He said that now SOE has intention to hold it every year. Five Speakers presented their views. The first Speaker was Mr. Haider Abbas (Additional Secretary, Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services), he explained the budget making process. Second speaker was Dr. Wasim Shahid Malik (Assistant Professor, SOE, QAU), he presented a talk on Macroeconomic indicators in budgetary perspective. The next speaker was Mrs. Robina Ather (Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce), she talked on issues related to commerce and trade policy. Dr. Asad Zaman (Vice Chancellor, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics) emphasized on achieving high growth. The last speaker was Dr. Ashfaque Hassan Khan (Dean, National University of Science and Technology), he presented a talk on the State of Economy and Budget 2016-17. Dr. Aliya H. Khan Dean, faculty of Social Sciences, QAU presented the concluding remarks. Final comments and vote of thanks was given by Vice Chancellor QAU Dr. Javed Ashraf. It is also worth mentioning that students and faculty members of five different universities including University of Arid Agriculture, National University of Modern Languages, Federal Urdu University, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics and Federal Government Post Graduate College for Women attended the seminar. (May 17, 2016,)
  • Lubna Javaid, Australian Award Ambassador for Pakistan (2016) presented a talk on Australian scholarships for Pakistani nationals. The session was organized for the graduating class of BS – Economics. (On May 24, 2016)
  • School of Economics, Quaid-i-Azam University organized a second seminar on CPEC. Dr. Sohail A. Safdar, Executive Director presented a talk on “The current and future prospects of CPEC”. (May 30, 2016)
  • Sakib Sherani, a renowned economist and ex-member of Prime minister’s Economic Advisory Council visited School of Economics and delivered a talk on the state of the economy of Pakistan. He concluded that economy of Pakistan is experiencing a partial stabilization but expressed his fears that power sector may lead to another crises and Pakistan is highly vulnerable to external shocks. (November 30, 2016)
  • School of Economics in collaboration with QAU Alumni Association organized a seminar on CPEC. This was the inaugural seminar of the “Distinguished Quaidian Speaker at Campus”. Raja Amer Iqbal, President, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented a talk on CPEC. He explained the view point of business community on CPEC. (December 15, 2016)
  • Tariq Amen Khan, Associate Professor, Ryerson University, Toronto visited School of Economics, QAU and presented a talk on informal economy. Students of M.Phil participated in the talk. In his talk Dr. Khan uncovered many important dimensions of informal economy. (December 13, 2016)
  • Muhammad Zubair Khan, International Consultant on Economics, Governance, Politics and Security Issues presented a talk on “A Broader Look at the Economic Performance in Pakistan”. The seminar was attended by the students of M.Phil. and BS Economics. Dr. Zubair highlighted different issues related to balance of payments, poverty, growth, inflation and unemployment. Finally the discussion was summarized by Dr. Javed Ashraf, Vice Chancellor, QAU. The seminar was arranged in collaboration with QAU Alumni Association. (January 10, 2017)
  • School of Economics in collaboration with Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organized a lecture of Dr. Shahida Wizarat on challenges faced by the developing countries and our response. Speaker is currently Dean, College of Social and Economic Development, Head of Economics Department and Chief Editor of Pakistan Business Review. (February 17, 2017)
  • Muhammad Ashfaq, CEO, Amanah Institute of Islamic Finance and Economics (Germany) presented a talk on the Fundamentals of Islamic Economics and overview of Islamic Financial and Services Industry. Mr. Muhammad Ashfaq stressed that Islamic Economics is the need of time, as conventional system is facing serious problems. (On March 27, 2017)
  • Professor Robert Faff, UQ Business School (The University of Queensland Australia) delivered a lecture on “Pitching Research”. The lecture was attended by M.Phil and Ph.D students. The Pitching Research is a template tool which is designed to help to exchange ideas between novice researchers and their academic advisers. It is a great resource to be used across a wide range of research areas and for diverse levels of research training and mastery among researchers and academicians. (September 11,2018)
  • Nisful Laila, The Vice Dean, Faculty of Economics, University of Airlangga, Indonesia visited School of Economics, QAU. She delivered a lecture on “Sovereign Sukuk: Lesson Learned from Indonesia.” The lecture was attended by students of M.Phil and Ph.D. After lecture different options of research collaborations were discussed. Finally a MoU was signed between QAU and University of Airlangga. (September 19, 2018)
  • On November 28, 2018 Dr. Amar Anwar, Associate Professor, Cape Britone University, Canada presented a talk on “Applications of Big Data in Transportation”. The lecture was attended by students of M.Phil and faculty. (November 28, 2018)
  • Shahid Mansoor Hashmi Senior Joint Director SBP, NIBAF delivered a lecture on “SBP Currency Management: Policy & Operations”. The lecture was attended by the students of M.Phil and BS. In his lecture Dr. Hashmi not only explained the currency management system but also explained the evolution of currency in Pakistan. (January 7, 2019)
  • Naveed Iftikhar, Governance Specialist at the Economic Reforms Unit, Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan gave a seminar “How to Make Pakistan’s Cities More Competitive?”. He talked on different challenges which are being faced due to rapid urbanization and also highlighted possible options. He emphasized on the need of further research on the confluence of rise in young population and increase in urbanization as not enough work is done in this area. Mr. Naveed has a diverse experience. He has been consultant for International development organizations including The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Program, and Japan International Cooperation Agency. (February 27, 2019)
  • Muhammad Zeshan, Senior Research Fellow, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics presented a seminar on Input-Output Table for Pakistan under the New System of National Accounts. It is Pakistan’s first Input-Output table that followed the 2008 System of National Accounts. The analysis of backward and forward linkages revealed that manufacturing of food products, beverages, textiles, electricity, gas, steam, air-conditioning and accommodation sectors have strong backward linkages while mining and quarrying, wood products, chemicals and chemical products, electricity, gas, steam, air-conditioning, warehousing and support activities for transportation sectors have strong forward linkages. He concluded that Economic growth in Pakistan would be sustainable if the government facilitates the economic activities in these sectors. (March 27,2019)
  • Hans Timmer is the Chief Economist for the South Asia region of the World Bank delivered his talk on Global Economic Trends at School of Economics. He highlighted various challenges posed by introduction in post-digital technology era. He emphasized that countries have to adjust themselves as per requirements of new challenges even if their policies are working quite well. Countries should have dynamic and non-linear thinking to overcome future challenges. He asked the youth to innovative and creative by coming out of their comfort zones. They have to be relentless in their approach to match their skills of the future. Hans emphasized on increasing role of women in labor force participation. This will help to increase export of a country. He mentioned Vietnam a success story in terms of increasing its export and it reached $220 billion from paltry $15 billion. (March 29, 2019)
  • A One Day seminar on the Conduct of Monetary Policy in Pakistan was organized at School of Economics, Quaid-i-Azam University on April 25, 2019. The seminar was organized by Prof. Dr Eatzaz Ahmad who is, serving at School of Economics, on State Bank Memorial Chair. Three resource persons including Prof. Dr Waseem Shahid Malik (SBP Chair, University of Peshawar), Dr. Waqas Ahmed (Additional Director, Economic Policy Review Department, SBP) and Mr. Muhammad Javaid Ismail (Director, Financial Stability Department, SBP) participated in the seminar. The seminar started with the recitation of Holy Quran. The Director SOE, Prof. Dr Zahid Asghar welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance/objectives of the seminar. The Chief Guest, Vice Chancellor QAU, Prof. Dr Muhammad Ali delivered the Inaugural speech. The Seminar covered a wide variety of issues related to the conduct of monetary policy in Pakistan including monetary policy theory and tools, monetary policy framework of SBP, new trends and challenges for monetary policy in Pakistan and Interaction between Monetary Policy and Macro prudential policy. The seminar ended with the vote of thanks by Professor Dr. Eatzaz Ahmad. (April 25, 2019).