Keynote Speaker

Dr. Ishrat Husain
Dr. Ishrat Husain is currently Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity with the status of Federal Minister. During 2016-17 he was Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. During this tenure he produced his latest book "Governing the ungovernable'" which was published by Oxford University Press.

He is the Chairman Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance at the Institute of Business Administration, (IBA) Karachi. He had earlier served as Dean and Director IBA between 2008 and 2016. He served as the Chairman, National Commission for Government Reforms for two years from 2006 to 2008 with the status of Federal Minister reporting directly to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was appointed the Governor of Pakistan's Central Bank in December 1999. The President of Pakistan conferred upon him the highest civilian award of Nishan e Imtiaz in 2016 for his outstanding public service.

Dr. Husain also had a distinguished career at the World Bank for over two decades 1979-1999. Among the key positions he held at the Bank were Resident Representative to Nigeria, head of the Bank's Debt and International Finance Division, Chief Economist for Africa between 1991-94 and later as Chief Economist for East Asia and Pacific Region that included China. He became the Bank's Director Poverty and Social Department and in 1997 he was named the Country Director for Central Asian Republics.