Maleeha rings NASDAQ bell to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day

Ambassador says nation's economy poised for rapid growth

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi on Friday rang the closing bell at NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York.

Lodi said the nation's economy was on the upswing as it pursued the "most investor-friendly" policies in the region. "Pakistan is on the rise," she told traders and investors gathered at the Pakistan flag-bedecked NASDAQ  office building in New York's Time Square to mark the nation's 70th Independence Day.

Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi rang NASDAQ's closing bell as part of Pakistan's independence celebrations along with members of Pakistan-American Business Association which organised the event in New York on 25 August. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

The event was carried live on a giant screen overlooking the crowded iconic square and by major American television networks in their economic and financial segments.



"I am glad that NASDAQ today has gone green with the Pakistani flag," Ambassador Lodhi, herself dressed in green, said before pressing the button to set off the bell.

"We are open to business, and we are open to foreign investment," she said, adding she was honoured to represent Pakistan at NASDAQ on the Independence Day celebrations from the platform of the Pakistan-American Business Association (PABA).

"Our economy has achieved an impressive turnaround and is poised for rapid growth," the Pakistani envoy said. Economic stability had been achieved by an enabling environment of democratic consolidation and security gains. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves were up, inflation down and overseas remittances at a record high. "Our demographic profile of a youthful population gives Pakistan the ability to make a quantum leap in its development," Ambassador Lodhi said.

"We are embarked firmly on the path of realising our vision to turn Pakistan into a regional hub, connecting the different regions it straddles by providing trade, energy and communications corridors." The ambassador also read out a special message from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which stated, “Pakistan has a bright future powered by its hard-working people and a resilient democracy.”



Earlier, Andew Hall, a top NASDAQ official, introduced Ambassador Lodhi and congratulated the government and people of Pakistan in connection with Independence Day. PABA chairman M Siddique Sheikh said the association had been striving to promote business and economic ties between the United States and Pakistan.