ISLAMABAD: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Tuesday expressed interest in financing scores of development projects in line with the government priorities.
AIIB President Jin Liqun said this during meetings with the senior government officials. “AIIB is fully committed to socioeconomic development of Pakistan,” an official statement quoted Liqun as saying. “AIIB will continue to support the development initiatives by the government of Pakistan.”
Liqun said the visit aims at to understand Pakistan’s socioeconomic needs and the priorities of the government. He acknowledged the reforms initiatives of the current government. “AIIB is one of the leading development partners of Pakistan. AIIB fully supports the government’s development vision and policies,” he said in a meeting with Minister of Economic Affairs Division Hammad Azhar.
AIIB president was leading a delegation to discuss projects in power generation and transmission, transport, water supply sectors, information technology and others.
Liqun said AIIB is providing its support for policy reforms and project financing in the key priority areas such as energy, road, social sector, water and irrigation and urban services. He reiterated AIIB’s strong commitment to further strengthening and expanding its partnership with Pakistan.
Minister Azhar said AIIB scales up its financing for development projects in the country. “The bank’s commitments reflect the confidence that multilaterals hold in the government’s reform agenda and the progress achieved towards economic stabilization,” he said. “AIIB is a valuable contributor to Pakistan’s development path.”
The minister said the government is fully committed to improve governance, bring economic reforms and achieve sustainable development. Azhar said government aims to put Pakistan’s economy on the path of sustainable and balanced growth and increase per capita income.
The minister said the government is more focused on social sector development. Human development index is slipping away. “Any investment in social sector development yields results after ages,” he said.
“We are hopeful to see positive results in future.” The minister thanked AIIB for extending its continuous support to the government in its efforts to achieve sustainable economic development in the country.
In a separate meeting, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative Asad Umar told the bank’s delegation that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relationship with the bank. Pakistan has been a supporter of the institution from the beginning, he said.
“Energy, communication and water management projects are on the priority of the government,” Umar said. “Apart from energy and infrastructure sectors, the government is focusing on tourism, SME (small and medium enterprise), IT (information technology) and housing sectors. These projects will be leveraged to uplift the socio-economic condition of the country.” The minister said that he looked forward to partnership in these areas.
