Planning ministry reconstitutes advisory committee

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives has reconstituted a high-powered advisory committee that will guide the ministry in policy formulation and implementation.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal will be the chairperson of the 31-member advisory committee, which will consist of government officials, parliamentarians, leading economic experts, businessmen and educationists from home and abroad. The committee will work as a strategic think-tank on policy issues to promote public and private interface and develop a participatory approach in decision-making. It will help generate and build consensus on policies and strategies of the Planning Commission. The committee will also provide input and get feedback from non-government stakeholders to improve the policies and performance of the ministry.

Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Secretary Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Planning Commission Saleem Mandviwalla, Chairman Standing Committee on National Assembly Khalid Magsi will be part of the group. Other prominent members include President FPCCI Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President OICCI Arif Habib, ex-president LCCI, Chairman Dawood Hercules Corp. Inamur Rehman,; Executive Director Akhuwat Dr Amjad Saqib, CEO SMEDA Hashim Raza, Vice Chancellor UAF Dr Rana Iqrar, Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Pro VC Cambridge University Dr Kamal Munir, LUMS Professor Dr Samina Khalil, Professor of Economics at LUMS Dr Syed Zahid Ali and Habib University professor Dr Aqdas Afzal.

The federal secretaries of various ministries and divisions will also be invited to the committee meetings as and when needed. The committee will meet once in each quarter to review the progress in development policy formulation and implementation.

It is noted that since the government came into power in April last year, several key initiatives have been taken to bring the country on the path of development, despite

limited resources and disaster caused by the recent floods.

The reconstitution of the advisory committee is the latest among a host of steps to involve the stakeholders in the policy making process. Last week, the Champions of Reforms project was launched to involve Pakistani experts at home and abroad to voluntarily contribute to the development process, including in the technical evaluation and pre-approval scrutiny of all the development projects of the Public Sector Development Programme. As part of the Turnaround Pakistan plan, the Planning Ministry will soon unveil a comprehensive long-term development strategy based on 5 Es, including exports, e-Pakistan, equity, energy, and environment.

The ministry will also soon release the Pakistan Outlook 2035 report, which seeks to set the target for the country in multiple sectors of the economy and identify policy choices for the policymakers to multiply the socio-economic development of the country. The study will assess long-term challenges in the light of economic crisis and changing global dynamics.