Khushhalibank joins hands with The Hunar Foundation to promote vocational training

Islamabad, December 31, 2012 (PPI-OT): With an aim to support livelihoods through competency based vocational training of international standards and help create a new batch of skilled Pakistanis with internationally recognized technical qualifications, Khushhalibank sponsored ten students of The Hunar Foundation technical institute to provide them the opportunity to skill themselves in various technical specialities like Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Electrical installation, Mechanical fitting and Plant Maintenance, Fabrication, welding and Pipe work, and Plumbing, followed by a 6 month internship in the local industry. These programs will be then followed by career guidance and assistance in work placement.

In this context, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Khushhalibank and The Hunar Foundation, as per which Khushhalibank will sponsor ten students to undergo a one year vocational training at Hunar Foundation’s newly established campus of HAK Technical Institute in Rashidabad, Tando Allahyar.

Speaking on this collaboration, Ghalib Nishtar, President Khushhalibank, said that “most of the USD 11 billion remittances received through overseas Pakistanis in 2010-2011 were contributed by the ‘skilled’ persons abroad, thus the importance of proper vocational training to create a skilled force that contributes significantly to the economic growth within the country cannot be denied”. He added that Khushhalibank has always been on the forefront of supporting such initiatives across the country that immediately impact an individual’s livelihood prospects and provide business opportunities”. Microfinance creates opportunities for access to productive capital, which together with human capital, addressed through education and vocational training, enables people to move out of poverty.

Khalid J. Siddiqui, CEO of The Hunar Foundation, reiterated his resolve to make a significant impact in the economy of the country by providing marketable, competency based vocational training of international standards to underprivileged boys and girls through joint partnerships with institutions such as Khushhalibank.

The Hunar Foundation is a non-profit organization formed by a group of like minded Pakistani professionals from the corporate sector, non-governmental organizations, donor groups and other strata of society, who have been the founding members of highly successful philanthropic initiatives such as The Kidney Centre and The Citizens Foundation. The Hunar Foundation focuses on establishing community welfare projects primarily in the field of Vocational Training & Technical Education at different locations in Pakistan by internationally trained instructors, with an aim to open up a new world of opportunities for individuals by providing a locally and globally absorbable technical manpower pool.

About Khushhalibank: Founded in the year 2000, Khushhalibank Limited was a part of the Government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and its Microfinance Sector Development Program (MSDP). MSDP was developed with the facilitation of Asian Development Bank (ADB). With its headquarters based in Islamabad, Khushhalibank operates under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with a consortium of local and International Investors as its shareholders. The mandate remains to retail microfinance services and to act as a catalyst in stabilizing the country’s microfinance sector.

For more information, contact:
Khushhali Bank
94 West, Fourth Floor, Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area
Islamabad
Pakistan
Telephone: +92 (51) 111 092 092
Fax: + 92 (51) 920 6080