INFER – IBA National Finance and Economic Reformation was a three day Competition loaded with a diverse set of activities designed to test the Finance and Economic concepts of its participants and their practical application. The participant teams comprised of University students as well as A-Levels students competing to demonstrate their prowess in the cut-throat simulations, case studies, quiz contests and parliamentary debate. The event organizers also hosted a Cruise party and Corporate Dinner as part of its social events, and a thoroughly intellectual discussion on the implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor by a panel of renowned speakers.

The event kicked off with the epic buzzer round where participants racked their brains to answer questions regarding economical and financial concepts as well as general knowledge questions in the subjects. The excitement in the room was almost tangible and the participants couldn't contain themselves as they waited for the announcers to finish announcing the question before they could answer it. The master of ceremonies for the event did a great job while managing to captivate the attention of the audience. Apart from orientations on some of the activities going to take place during the three days of INFER, there was also a highly motivating and useful workshop on savings and investments by AKD investments. The participants were also given to simulate a stock market by playing the virtual game of stocks on smartstocks.com.

After the case study presentations on the second day of INFER, the participants were introduced to a one of a kind game of international trade, where they made geometrical shapes out of paper and traded it for paper money. The team with the highest profit at the end of the game took the victory. What followed the game was a delightfully enlightening panel discussion on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor where we had prominent guests like Mr. Ikram Sehgal, Mr. Khurram Hussain, Dr. Akbar Zaidi and Dr. Talat Wizarat join us to engage the students in an afternoon of learning and enjoyment. The session was only possible due to the thought-provoking questions and guidance and provided by Dr. Huma Baqai who was the moderator for the event. The first social event took place on the second day of INFER. The participants and management team were taken in a cruise party at Marina Club. It was a lovely evening, with the participants making the most of the view while taking in the fresh cool breeze blowing in their faces.

The third day of INFER kicked off with one of the most challenging rounds of the whole event, EcoPedia, which was a unique quiz contest where the participants had 7 minutes and could ask the hosts 20 questions to guess the personality, event or publication which was written on the card they chose randomly. It proved to be a daunting task for the participants to be able to guess the correct answer, and not surprisingly, only a few teams excelled in the challenge. The top 8 teams moved ahead in the competition. What followed next was a round of parliamentary debates, where teams confidently expressed their views and cross-questioned each other on topics related to economics. The last competition of the event was the Harvard finance simulation where the participants assumed the roles of financialists and used their concepts of capital budgeting to choose the projects which they wanted to be a part of their made-up firm. The top 3 teams presented their findings and the winners were then decided. The participants were then taken to Creek Club for the corporate dinner where the winners were announced and the prizes distributed. All participants and management team members were given certificates to value their contribution to INFER.

Embellished with the ecstacy of the winners, the sportsmanship of the participants, the hardwork of the team members and the excitement of everyone, INFER 2016 ended as a tremendous success and a strong foundation for the future INFER events to build upon. The event would never have been possible had not the organizing team, especially the program design team, worked day and night to make the event what it culminated into. The winners were awarded with Rs. 50,000; the first and second runner-ups with Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 20,000, respectively. The rest of the teams showcased sportsmanship and cheered for the winning teams with much vigor. All in all, the curtains of INFER 2016 fell with much grace, an abundance of cherished memories and newly formed friendships.

Written by:
Shaza Shams, Hamna Mumtaz and Javeria Rehan.