ISLAMABAD: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President (Operations) Shixin Chen, Vice President (Operations), Asian Development Bank (ADB) called on Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs. He congratulated the minister on his elevation as Minister for Economic Affairs.
Mr. Chen appreciated that Pakistan’s current leadership has clear vision on transparency, good governance and people centered development. The Vice President assured that ADB will support Pakistan and finance projects according to the development priorities of the Government of Pakistan. He assured the Minister of Bank’s resolve to expand partnership with Pakistan to finance the priority projects.
Minister for Economic Affairs thanked the VP for his visit to Pakistan and appreciated ADB’s support in the economic development of the country. He thanked the ADB for disbursing US$ 500 million for Trade & Competitiveness Program which will be helpful to address structural reforms in the trade sector. The Minister highlighted current government’s vision for development and pointed priority sectors, ongoing projects and priorities for future development. The Minister informed that investing in human capital, protecting poor and the vulnerable, undertaking institutional and governance reforms are high priorities of the government.
During the meeting, ADB’s Country Operations Business Plan (COBP) for Pakistan (2020-2022) worth US$ 7 billion (approx) was discussed.
It was further agreed that COBP will be finalized with mutual deliberations between ADB and EAD. It was agreed that priority shall be given to agriculture, water & sanitation, renewable energy, climate change, tourism, housing, education, health and social sector projects. The Vice President underscored that to streamline the procedures, enhanced capacity of government functionaries, continuity of the postings and enhancing procurement rules are of paramount importance to complete development project within time and allocated budgets. The Vice President assured that Pakistan is an important country for ADB and he wants to make this relationship stronger.
