In a keynote address at the inaugural International Capital Market Conference 2025 in Karachi, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad urged greater regional cooperation and innovation to build integrated capital markets across Asia, arguing these are needed to mobilize investment, strengthen resilience, and support sustainable growth and financial stability. He set out the case that integrated regional capital markets can facilitate smoother capital flows, harmonised regulation and broader investment opportunities, and can provide an alternative financing channel for climate and infrastructure needs where savings are low and bank financing capacity is limited. The speech pointed to examples including the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market and the ASEAN+3 Asian Bond Markets Initiative, noting that ASEAN+3 bond markets expanded from 88 percent of GDP in 2002 to 133 percent in 2025; it also identified prerequisites for integration including aligned regulatory frameworks, market connectivity infrastructure, harmonised legal and institutional structures, and stronger collaboration among regulators and market participants, alongside safeguards to manage contagion and imbalance risks through surveillance frameworks and macroeconomic coordination. On Pakistan’s contribution, Ahmad referenced ongoing work under SBP’s Vision 2028 and the government’s Uraan Pakistan blueprint, including linking the Raast instant payment system with the Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna platform and developing a unified digital identity and know-your-customer framework with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Pakistan Stock Exchange to simplify investor access across banking, insurance and capital markets.

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