Equipping students with in-demand skills: GIK Institute to have collaboration with bank

SWABI - A delegation from the United Bank Limited (UBL) visited Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology on Thursday and discussed strengthening collaboration between the banking sector and academia to support Pakistan’s economic growth. The seven-member delegation was led by Tughral Aamir Turab Ali, the head of Digital Money and Financial Inclusion at UBL’s Digital Bank Group.

Two members joined from Karachi, while five traveled from Islamabad.The GIK Institute was represented by Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid, the rector, along with pro-rectors, deans, heads of departments, and directors. Key objectives of the visit were to explore transitioning of the GIK Institute campuses to digital banking and identify opportunities for result-oriented partnership.The ideas discussed included launching joint research projects, cyber security courses, student internships at the UBL, establishing a modern banking innovation lab at GIK, and UBL experts guiding faculty and students on excelling in digital banking through workshops.

“We could arrange joint workshops where the bank experts could guide the faculty and students on how to excel in the rapidly changing digital banking system,” said Tughral.“We see great value in collaborating with the GIK Institute to develop talent with both world-class technological and banking knowledge,” said Adoniah Carmeline, a senior UBL official from Karachi.

Prof Khalid welcomed the collaboration and stated: “We have focused on research, innovation, and moving forward together to boost the economy.” The communication by the GIK Institute said the visit marks an important step in building synergy between academia and banking to equip students with in-demand skills and drive financial inclusion through technology.