World Bank president due today

World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn will arrive in Pakistan on Sunday for a three-day visit to discuss economic and social development.
Wolfensohn, during his visit, would hold meetings with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He will also meet State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Husain, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and advisor to prime minister on finance Ashfaq Hassan Khan to discuss bank's role in economic and social development of the country.
Besides, he will also meet with other senior officials, representatives of civil society and parliamentarians and to discuss the economic development so far achieved by Pakistan and review its poverty reduction strategy implementation.
A meeting is also scheduled for Wolfensohn with non-governmental organisations working on disability, HIV/AIDS and micro-credit.
The World Bank has so far approved $15 billion for Pakistan after she became its member in 1952. This amount included 96 loans and 163 credit in the sector of macroeconomic satiability, poverty reduction, improvement of human development, good governance and bank and tax reforms.
The bank also supports Pakistan to sustain fiscal stability, reduce external and internal debts and improve competitiveness of economy.
It may be stated that it is his farewell visit to Pakistan, as he steps down in June this year on completion of his five-year tenure.
He will visit and see the status of different ongoing and completed projects funded by the bank and would also discuss financial cooperation so for extended to Pakistan.
A press statement issued said that the bank's vice-president for South Asian region, Praful Patel and John Wall, the bank's country director for Pakistan would also accompanying him during his stay.
The World Bank has been a close development partner extending valuable assistance in different economic fields. It designed a Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) to support Pakistan's economic growth, governance reforms, creating income generation opportunities and human development improvement.
The bank's group assistance strategy is organised around three mutually reinforcing pillars which are: strengthening macroeconomic stability and government effectiveness; strengthening the enabling investment climate; and supporting the pro-poor and pro-gender policies.
In regard to 'strengthening macroeconomic stability and government effectiveness strategy', the bank focuses on supporting the government's efforts to restore fiscal sustainability, reduce internal and external debts and improve the economic competitiveness.
It focuses on improving the government effectiveness at the federal, provincial and local levels. To this end, the bank supports furthering transparency and accountability in different state and federal agencies as well as institutional capacity building to create the political, economic and institutional setting for entrepreneurship and markets to flourish.
Regarding the bank group's assistance to Pakistan under 'strengthening the enabling investment climate' includes a combination of analytical work and financial assistance targeted at key sectors.
These include support for deregulation, trade liberalisation, tariff reduction, privatisation, and reform of the banking sector. These measures are aimed at reducing the cost of doing business. In addition, the bank is supporting investment and reforms of critical infrastructure, including water, transport, and energy.
Under the third pillar 'supporting pro-poor and pro-gender policies', the bank focuses on promoting education and health, supporting pro-poor rural development and community infrastructure and targeting poverty alleviation programs.
In education, special emphasis is placed on improving the quality of education and giving priority to the poor and disadvantaged, particularly girls and children in rural areas.
In health, the bank assistance is supporting the government's priority of strengthening public health programs in immunisation, communicable diseases and maternal and child health.
The bank also assisting rural sector development, emphasising on community-driven projects, such as the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF).
This project formed to empower the poor by providing them with access to resources and services such as micro-credit and grants for development of community infrastructure and capacity building.