Islamabad: In its collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the World Bank Group, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) recently conducted two full-day Faculty Development Program (FDP) seminars in both Karachi and Islamabad. According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the events hosted more than 200 management science academics from various universities in Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. These programmes were an extension of the MOU signed on May 5, 2016, between the HEC and SECP, and were planned for faculty members of universities across Pakistan. HEC Regional Director Sindh, Sulaiman Ahmed and HEC Director General Academics, Raza Chohan, had initiated the events in Karachi and Islamabad respectively along with the SECP’s Investor Education and International Relations HOD, Khalida Habib. The HEC and SECP representatives both stressed the importance of mutual collaboration between the non-banking financial sector regulator and academia for creating investor education and financial awareness at the tertiary education level across Pakistan with the help of the participating academics. They also expressed their unwavering commitment to furthering this cause by conducting such events regularly in order to educate the youth. The finance-savvy youth will ensure that Pakistan reaps the benefit of financial markets growth by mobilising a nationwide cultural change that focuses on savings and investments. In his message, the SECP chairman, Zafar Hijazi, thanked the attending faculty for their enthusiasm and dedication to developing the youth of Pakistan. He also stressed on the critical role of the faculty of all educational institutions in transferring the practical insights gained through interactions with leading industry specialists to their students and generating a continuous dialogue between the academia, market participants and the regulating body to produce results, which are both far-reaching and tangible. Chairman Hijazi further stressed on the need for research, collaboration and a continued dialogue to safeguard the investors by developing financial products, policies and laws by leveraging the invaluable input of academia. It was announced that soon, the SECP would conduct a well-structured trainer program for a select group of faculty members in various cities of Pakistan, who will, then, be entrusted with the responsibility of spreading the investor education on a regular basis. The participants found the sessions highly valuable and said that such sessions should be held on a regular basis at their educational institutions. In addition, many university representatives also expressed the desire to sign an investor education MOU with the SECP. All such remarks were warmly welcomed.