ISLAMABAD: The government is committed to complete structural reforms in multiple areas of the economy, including energy, capital markets, trade competitiveness, domestic resource mobilisation and governance, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Talking to Eugenue Zukhov, director general, Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan appreciated the ADB for their continued technical and financial support to the Pakistan government.
The minister also acknowledged the ADB for providing $500 million for the procurement of the Covid vaccine. The government is committed to provide maximum vaccination coverage to the eligible population, hre said, adding that given rapid urbanisation and population growth, the urban services sector was a high priority of the present government.
The government is committed to improve urban infrastructure and services, including water and sanitation services, public transport, urban flooding and disaster management and health facilities.
At present, the ADB is financing 32 development projects, amounting to $6.4 billion in energy, road and transport, agriculture and irrigation, urban services, education, health and social protection.
Omar Ayub Khan also highlighted that through the National Coordination Committee on Foreign Funded Projects, the Economic Affairs Division has not only significantly improved performance of the ongoing projects by removing major bottlenecks, including delays in land acquisition, right of way issues and hiring of project staff but has also undertaken an internal exercise to weed out non-performing projects to redirect resources towards more sustainable projects.
The minister also said efforts are being made within the EAD to improve project management and oversight by creating a dedicated monitoring cell.
Appreciating the ADB’s continued support to Pakistan, he suggested new areas for assistance, including support for the provision of basic amenities, i.e., energy, roads and urban services, etc, to the erstwhile Fata region, which has been merged into the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The ADB official reiterated the bank’s commitment to support the government’s reform agenda and to speed up the economic recovery process, amid Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the ADB plans to provide Pakistan around $10 billion in fresh assistance for various development projects, particularly in the sectors of urban services, disaster risk reduction and policy-based programmes in the next five years.
Zhukov also said that additional financing of $700 million is currently available for Pakistan to procure Covid-19 vaccines under the ADB’s APVAX facility.
The ADB also appreciated the government of Pakistan’s support in successfully evacuating the ban personnel working in Afghanistan, he said, adding that the bank commended the minister for economic affairs for his proactive approach for enhanced partnership and regular portfolio reviews.
Both leaders agreed to continue discussing ways to further deepen the ADB and Pakistan’s development partnership; and ensure effectiveness of the ongoing portfolio.
Yong Ye, country director of ADB; Asad Aleem, principal energy specialist; and Nasruminallah Mian, senior project officer, also attended the meeting.
