ADB funding 37 ongoing development projects in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Pakistan is funding 37 development projects worth $ 7.9 billion in energy, road and transport, agriculture, urban infrastructure and social sector, a statement said.

ADB Vice President (Operations) Shixin Chen called on Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan and discussed the ADB’s technical and financial assistance for Pakistan including ongoing portfolio and priority areas for future interventions.

During the current fiscal year, ADB has disbursed $ 1.1 billion for various development projects and programmes.

Khan appreciated the ADB for their continued and enhanced financial assistance to the government. The Minister also acknowledged the ADB’s timely support for addressing health and socioeconomic challenges amid Covid-19 pandemic.

The ADB has provided over $ 1.3 billion for Covid-19 response including social protection, vaccination and budgetary support for fiscal stimulus.

The minister further highlighted that through the National Coordination Committee on foreign funded projects, EAD had significantly improved physical progress and disbursement against the ongoing projects by removing major bottlenecks including delays in land acquisition, right of way issues and hiring of project staff.

Khan further shared that the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) is going to implement a triad model i.e., physical progress verification by satellites, financial tracking and use of Gantt Charts for efficient monitoring and smooth implementation of the projects.

He assured the ADB vice president that the government is committed to complete structural reforms in multiple areas, while both sides discussed new reform areas for ADB’s assistance including domestic resource mobilisation, climate change and Public-Private Partnerships.

The domestic resource mobilisation would help the government to create fiscal space through enhanced revenue collection and overcome the challenge of fiscal deficit.

Furthermore, it was agreed to enhance investments in the road sector, agriculture, renewable energy, digital connectivity, vocational education and social sector.

Chen acknowledged the government’s efforts for reforms in trade, energy and capital markets, commending the government’s successful response against Covid -19 pandemic including mass vaccination programme, social protection and relief measures for general public, agriculture and industry.

He further appreciated that ADB’s disbursement for development projects has increased by 25 per cent in a year due to continuous efforts and follow-ups of EAD and ADB Teams.

Khan and Chen, agreed to continue discussing ways to further deepen ADB and Pakistan’s development partnership. Deputy Director General Nianshan Zhang, Senior Adviser Aiming Zhou, Country Director Yong Ye, , Deputy Country Director Asad Aleem and ADB Senior Project Officer Nasruminallah Mian also joined the meeting.