Fair use of resources vital for foreign investment: minister

LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht instructed the planning and development board to prepare master plan for the urban development projects and keep the all stakeholders on board while making the plans.

The minister chairing a meeting of the foreign funded projects here Thursday said that judicious utilisation of resources was crucial to increase the foreign investment in the province besides provision of facilities to the partners for timely completion of the projects.

He believed that fixing the completion period of these projects and reviewing and monitoring the projects would enhance the department’s performance and help resolve the issues easily. The meeting was attended by the Planning and Development Board Chairman Habib-ur-Rehman Gillani, Asian Development Bank and World Bank representatives and other officials concerned. The minister observed that the partnership of the international institutions in the development projects of Punjab was proof of their trust in the province.

Punjab Disaster Management Authority official briefed the meeting about ongoing management of flood water, while irrigation department official updated about Trimu and Punjnad up-gradation projects.

Secretary Energy briefed about the solar power generation projects under access of clean energy projects under which 42,000 schools and 2,218 Basic Health Units (BHUs) will be upgraded. He informed that the PC-I of the project was prepared while design would be approved in this month after which the project would be formally launched.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) official said that international partners were updated about establishment of PPP authority in Punjab. The minister instructed that all departments should fix the timelines for their responsibilities in the projects and review their projects performance accordingly.