WB delegation discusses sponsored projects with KP minister

PESHAWAR: A World Bank delegation met Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra and other senior government officials Thursday to review upcoming sponsored projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The first project discussed was on increasing the provinces own source revenue, an effort under which revenue generation by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority is meant to be increased.

This is critical for the province, since the province today only generates six per cent of revenue.

Taimur Jhagra affirmed that plans were well underway to launch a concerted revenue generation campaign in the province, in particular with KPRA now referring to the oversight of the finance department.

Tourism development in the province was also discussed, a topic on which the World Bank and the tourism department have been working at length.

Amongst additional initiatives, the need to target true international tourists, and specific target markets, in particular China and East Asia were highlighted. The delegation also proposed how it could help the government digitalisation process, for which a new project with the World Bank has been approved.

The members of the delegation also presented its findings on the Annual Development Programme, highlighting improvements in the project performance. The finance minister remarked that these improvements were only the beginning of process where the financial management of the province would be completely revamped.