Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday outlined "special initiatives" in the social sector to be launched in the current financial year and asked the donor countries and agencies to be a "partner in progress" and help the government achieve its development goals. Speaking to ambassadors and representatives of major donor countries and financial institutions, the Prime Minister gave an update on the special initiatives the government plans to undertake to alleviate poverty and improve the lot of people.
"We would require assistance and attention of donors for these special initiatives," he told them.
Listing major development programmes, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government was launching a Rs 5 billion Khushal Pakistan Fund to improve social sector and quality of life of a common man.
The government intends to add a certain amount every year with an ultimate objective of raising the Fund to one percent of the country's GDP. Priorities areas for the Fund have already been laid down in short and long-term plans, he added.
He said "one village one product" programme was being initiated to help the people in rural areas, which have more incidents of poverty.
He said the government would provide funds to improve the quality of the products that could also be exported.
The Prime Minister said, Japan and some European countries were sending their senior people to provide necessary expertise for the project.
He said he would have discussion with the concerned officials on this initiative during his scheduled visit to Japan in coming August.
Describing provision of clean drinking water as one of the massive tasks, he said, the government was lunching a programme to have at least one water filtration project in every union council by the year 2007.
This would help to minimise and overcome water-borne diseases. "Our approach is preventive and curative."
The Prime Minister told the envoys about another special initiative relating to use of solar energy as an alternative source where grid could not reach.
He informed them that he inaugurated the first solar village on Sunday where every house has at least one bulb lit through solar energy, besides tube-wells and water filtration plant run by the alternative energy source.
The Prime Minister said Rs 2.5 billion Hepatitis preventing programme was being launched and in this connection the government was negotiating with the donors for assistance like the provision of vaccines.
Under the programme, the people would also be made aware of preventive measures and sources of the disease.
The Prime Minister said the programme was also coming up for mega-city development that includes Karachi, Lahore and also Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad and other major cities.
The programme targets availability of mass-transit facilities to overcome traffic problems, meeting requirements of essential utilities such as gas, water and power, and development of slum areas.
Shaukat Aziz apprised the donors' representatives of a major initiative to improve and develop the country's livestock sector, particularly the dairy farming.
He said President General Pervez Musharraf during his recent visit to Australia and New Zealand also discussed prospects of co-operation in this area.
Pakistan is the sixth highest producer of milk and through the new initiative, the government intends to reach out to every farmer and even the womenfolk can play an important role in raising the family income.
"Our plan is to alleviate poverty by increasing income in the rural area," he added.
The Prime Minister said Nestle was already in the business and many more companies were coming up to exploit the opportunities in the livestock sector.
The government, he said, was also launching a crash vocational training programme to overcome shortage of skilled manpower in the country.
He informed the envoys about the robust growth in the country's economy, which recorded 8.4 percent growth this fiscal year with strong future prospects.
The foreign direct investment (FDI) has also witnessed an increase as the country received $1.03 billion FDI this year, he said while referring to the expansion in all sectors of the economy.
The Prime Minister outlined his government's future growth strategy that rested on five pillars - water security, energy security, infrastructure development, human and social sector development and second generation reforms.
In the area of water security, the Prime Minister said Pakistan had to build more dams and reservoirs to meet the growing water needs.
Similarly, he said the high growth in the economy has multiplied demand for the energy and Pakistan was exploring options of buying gas from Qatar, Iran and Turkmenistan to meet its growing needs.
The government was also focussing on the infrastructure development that includes construction of roads, railway links and transportation facilities.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would lay the foundation stone of a new international airport near Islamabad in September and was also scheduled to lay foundation stones of two major hotels in the capital city in the next few weeks.
He said tenders were out for designing the airport and added that any company of the world could compete for the project as Pakistan provided level-playing field to both foreign and domestic investors.
In the domain of human resource development, the Prime Minister referred to the increased allocation in the areas of higher education, health, population planning etc.
The Prime Minister stated that second generation reforms were concentrating on strengthening institutions, improving the competitiveness of industries, building a robust financial system, deepening the capital market and strengthening the tax administration.
In this respect, he specially mentioned about the police, judicial reforms to provide security to the people and an easy and speedy access to justice.
"We strongly and sincerely believe that (process of) reforms never stop and is an ongoing process," he added.
He said the government's economic policies based on privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation have started to produce positive results.
In this respect, he alluded to the privatisation of PTCL, which was the highest financial transaction in the country's history and fetched $2.599 billions for the 26 percent stake in the company. "It is a landmark transaction.
The Prime Minister said worlds major companies took part in its bidding, showing a growing confidence in the country's economy.
He described transparency in the process as the hallmark of the country's aggressive privatisation policy that includes sale of at least four major public sector entities on the future list -PSO, PPL, Steel Mills.
The Prime Minister appreciated the role of civil society in the social sector development and said the government would continue to encourage donors' interaction with their activities.
However, he said, the government was working on a programme to regulate the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to bring in more transparency in their activities.
The Prime Minister also shared with true envoys the details of the National Budget for the fiscal year 2005-06, passed by the Parliament last week.
He said that the budget was being seen by the analysts as growth-oriented and people-friendly that would boost investment, facilitate private sector and improve living standard of the people.
"No taxes or tariffs have been imposed that affect the common man," he said and added that substantial raise has been given in the salaries of the government employees.
The tax administration has been simplified and the major portion of taxation was on self-assessment with random checking.
The Prime Minister said there had been a historic increase in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) with 45 percent allocation for infrastructure development, 36 percent for social sector and 30 percent for higher education.
The government was also focussing on providing social security net to the poor through micro-financing schemes, he added.
A major development programme, Khushal Pakistan, was being launched that involves water and sanitation, health, education, electricity and gas.
The Prime Minister said that 13,000 villages were electrified in the outgoing fiscal year with another 9,000 villages targeted for the next fiscal year.
The government provided 250,000 new gas connection this year in 270 towns and cities and facilitated the provision of LPG in the areas, where gas pipeline could not be laid.
The Prime Minister asked the donor countries and agencies to join hands with Pakistan and work together to bequeath an economically stronger Pakistan to our future generations.
Talking to APP after the meeting, the envoys described the special initiatives of the government as very positive.
"We are very positive because these initiatives are in the right direction, so we certainly welcome these interventions," Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka said.
Australia's Deputy High Commission Jason Roberts underlined the growing co-operation with Pakistan while referring to a number of initiatives announced during the recent visit of President Musharraf to the country.
These included 500 'fully funded students' scholarships and million credit in the agriculture sector.
Head of the European delegation in Pakistan, Ambassador Ilkka Uusitalo appreciated the increased allocation in the social sector.
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