Queen Máxima of Netherlands lands in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Queen Máxima of the Netherlands on Monday arrived in Islamabad, on a three-day visit in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) for Inclusive Finance for Development.

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Queen Maxima along with six-member delegation landed at the Islamabad airport via flight TK-711.

She was accorded warm welcome by the officials of the Foreign Office and Dutch embassy.

During her visit, according to a statement, she will call on President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan besides meeting with a range of stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

Queen Máxima 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.

The Netherlands’ queen has been the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) 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.

Queen Máxima had earlier visited Pakistan in February 2016.

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