Govt committed to WB projects, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, while appreciating the contribution of World Bank (WB) in socio-economic development of Pakistan, has said the incumbent government is committed to various projects being funded by World Bank.

The Minister was talking to WB Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan who called on him at Islamabad on Friday. Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan and senior officials of the Ministry were also present in the meeting.

During the meeting, various infrastructure, clean drinking water, drainage and agriculture related projects being funded by the World Bank came under discussion. Referring to K4 and S3 projects, the Minister said that provision of clean drinking water and upgrading drainage system of Karachi were among top priority of the Government. He stated that Karachi was a metropolitan city and the incumbent Government will undertake all possible measures for its development.

Infrastructure projects including Karachi Urban Mobility Project (Yellow Bus Rapid Transit-BRT Corridor), Construction of Peshawar-Torkham Motorway Project (47.55 KM) as Component-I of Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project (KPEC), and Economic Development of Uplift of Areas Adjoining to Motorway as a Component-2 of Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project (KPEC) and agriculture related projects were also deliberated upon in the meeting. Illangovan said that World Bank will continue to contribute to the development of Pakistan.