ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved nine projects in the education, culture, agricultural engineering, livestock, women development and communication sectors at a cost of Rs4.72 billion.The CDWP recommended to Ecnec for approval two projects in the energy and education sectors worth Rs14.64bn.The CDWP meeting chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal approved a project for enhancement of research facilities at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Pattoki, costing Rs980.22 million.In the communication sector, it approved two projects worth Rs1.27bn for Shangla Hill Interchange on M-3 and the dualisation of the remaining portion of Sukkur bypass. A project for ‘Grow Green Gwadar and Smart’ worth Rs410m was approved.
Under the Pak-China Economic Corridor, a support project of the Ministry of Railways was also approved by the CDWP at a cost of Rs252m.
Other projects approved are: the second phase of archaeology community tourism field school project worth Rs52.53m; establishment of ‘Seerat Chairs’ in public sector universities involving Rs192m; strengthening of academic facilities at Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai University in Khairpur costing Rs712.60m; and strengthening of agricultural engineering and women development programme worth Rs843.18m.
The projects recommended to Ecnec are 500KV substation at Faisalabad west worth Rs1.1b, and the Balochistan education project costing Rs3.57b.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Iqbal said Pakistan could not afford to be left behind in the development race as other countries in the region were riding on the wave of Asian growth. “Our development strategy under ‘Vision 2025’ has brought a paradigm shift in priorities for allocation of resources,” he said.
Listing the seven priorities of the development strategy, Mr Iqbal said the first priority was to focus on human resource development and put people first in development process.
“Our neglect of human resource development has put us behind other nations. The Rs10b ‘National Human Resource Endowment Fund’ approved by the government is a proof of our commitment, he added.
The second priority, he said, was to focus on indigenous sources of growth for sustainable and inclusive growth. There is focus on research and development, innovation and export promotion. The target of increasing exports to over $150bn by 2025 is a step in this direction.
The third priority is to reform public sector and civil service to make it performance-driven and citizen-friendly, while the fourth priority is energy, water and food security. The neglect of this sector has brought unprecedented damage to economy with acute power and energy shortages and a looming water crisis. New dams and energy projects have been initiated to not only solve the crisis but also to cater for future demand, he said.
According to the planning minister, the fifth priority is to revamp productive sectors with strong academia and research input for value addition and Knowledge Economy. “We want to move from commodity to high-value platform. ICT sector is being developed as engine of growth,” he said.
The sixth priority is development of private sector and small and medium enterprises for job creation and investment, and the seventh priority is development of modern infrastructure for greater regional connectivity. He said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a giant step in this direction. All development projects would be judged for their contribution and relevance to these priorities, he added.
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