ISLAMABAD: Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will arrive in Pakistan next week for a three-day visit.

“Queen Maxima will visit Pakistan from Nov 25-27 in her capacity as the United Nations’ Secretary General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) for Inclusive Finance for Development,” says an official announcement by the Foreign Office here on Sunday.

The Dutch queen, according to the official statement, would call on President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan during her visit, in addition to her engagements with public and private sectors’ representatives.

Inclusive Finance for Development is one of the key priorities of the government. Pakistan has taken a number of steps in recent years to promote key objectives of the financial inclusion.

Queen Maxima Zorre­guieta Cerruti will also attend the launch of the “Micro Payment Gateway, an initiative of the State Bank of Pakistan aimed at reducing the costs of small payments and boosting digital transactions to benefit people and promote financial inclusion”, says the statement.

The Dutch queen has been the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development since 2009.

In this capacity, she is actively engaged worldwide in promoting access of individuals and enterprises to financial services at a reasonable cost, with the aim of improving economic and social development opportunities.

She had earlier visited Pakistan in February 2016 during the PML-N government.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2019