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Former Vice President of the World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, to Keynote FreeBalance conference

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar will share her insights into the significance of Public Finance Management and how it reinforces the overall development effectiveness agenda in developing countries

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Ottawa, Canada (January 13, 2012) – FreeBalance, a leading vendor of Government Resource Planning (GRP) software, is pleased to announce Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, a former Vice President of the World Bank as a keynote speaker at the annual FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) taking place between January 16-18, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Akhtar will discuss the impact of sustainable public financial management reform, modernized systems, and economic planning on developing countries. She will provide insight in how developing countries outperformed developed countries in weathering the financial crisis and the role of GRP systems.

“Years of investments and persistent efforts have positioned developing countries to withstand economic crises, which have become a recurring feature in a globalized world, while helping post conflict and HIPCs to develop the capacity to manage requirements better, explained Dr. Akhtar. “Modernized public financial management systems based on international standards and backed by proper multiyear planning systems of expenditures help improve allocation and efficiency of public expenditure and performance budgeting among central and local governments.”

“Dr. Akhtar’s ‘lessons learned’ in economic planning good practices will be of significant benefit to the Ministers of Finance invited to FISC,” said Manuel Pietra, President & CEO of FreeBalance. “The deep insight brought by Dr. Akhtar will also help FreeBalance to innovate the budget and policy planning modules for FreeBalance Government Performance Management products.”

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar is an influential Pakistani politician with an awarding career in international governmental organizations. Prior to joining the World Bank, Dr. Akhtar served as a former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (2006-2009), a former Governor of IMF and a Director General of South East Asia Region of the Asian Development Bank. In 2006, she was nominated as Asia’s Best Central Bank Governor by the Emerging Markets and Banker’s Trust. Dr. Akhtar is a recipient of Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Harvard University and holds an M.A. in Development Economics from University of Sussex and an MSc in Economics from the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad Pakistan.

About FreeBalance
FreeBalance helps governments around the world leverage robust Government Resource Planning (GRP) technology to accelerate country growth. FreeBalance is a recognized as leader in fast, adaptable and successful GRP implementations. FreeBalance software manages a global civil service workforce of 1,500,000, and a quarter trillion ($US) annual budgets worldwide. FreeBalance provides software solutions for public financial and human resource management, and supports reform and modernization to improve governance, transparency and accountability. Good governance is required to improve development results. For more information, visit www.freebalance.com.

About FISC

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