LAHORE:Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Alternative Executive Director John Hurley and ADB Country Director Yong Ye met Planning and Development Board (P&D) Chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal here at P&D Complex on Thursday.
The two sides discussed Punjab development outlay, priorities and implementation challenges, beside ADB’s portfolio.
A brief regarding Punjab government’s priorities and implantation challenges was presented to the ADB team. It was briefed that seven projects of ADB (worth US$821.642 million) including irrigation, urban development, energy and regional planning were actively working in the province, while 15 projects (worth US$1985.21 million) including urban development, irrigation, agriculture, roads, skills, education and environment are in the pipeline.
Three pillars of the ADB Pakistan Country Partnership Strategy (2021-2025), and ADB Vision 2030 were also discussed in detail. Strategies of Punjab government for development were also discussed in which areas of disaster risk management, growth through private sector development, industrialising Punjab, enhancing value in agriculture and livestock, water resource management, energy efficiency and conservation, human capital development, and knowledge economy and digital dividends were included.
Chairman P&D Board said that the development priorities of Punjab are in sync with the national vision and are derived from key strategic documents – Punjab Growth Strategy 2023 and Punjab Spatial Strategy 2047. Increasing economic growth, job creation and productivity is the main focus of our development agenda. Therefore, sectors like Agriculture, Manufacturing, Services & MSME that have the highest impact on GDP will be a priority. He also said that to achieve this, a balanced approach towards equitable growth is necessary. Therefore, achieving Regional Equalization and Urbanization of cities as engine of growth are priority areas for Punjab where we would like to get support from Asian Development Bank. For bringing improvements in the Irrigation and Water Resources sector, significant investments in improving water course, introducing water conservation and water storage dams will be made, he added.