Government to pursue reform agenda expeditiously: Shaukat tells World Bank chief

Reiterating the government''s resolve to continue to pursue the reform agenda expeditiously, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said that ensuring water, energy and food security, infrastructure strengthening and human resource development would be the priority areas of the government during the next 5-10 years.
Talking to Graeme Wheeler, Managing Director, World Bank, who called on him here at the PM House, the Prime Minister appreciated the technical and financial assistance provided by World Bank in implementation of the reform agenda. Graeme Wheeler said Pakistan has an impressive record in terms of growth, development and poverty alleviation.
He said the pace of implementation of reforms is extraordinary and it is heartening to note that inflation is coming down. The Prime Minister said that Pakistan because of its geo-strategic location serves as a bridge between three important regions of Asia, and the government is working to leverage this position to promote regional trade.
He said Pakistan''s vision of building trade, energy and transportation corridors has been well received by various countries of the region. The Prime Minister said the government is also working to establish Pakistan as a high value-added internationally competitive regional hub for manufacturing and trade and, "to achieve this end, we are focusing on improving the logistics chain".
Under the National Trade Corridor Plan, the Prime Minister said, a network of roads and bridges is being built and procedures and processes have been simplified and made efficient. The strengthening of infrastructure has added to the competitiveness and productivity of our goods, the Prime Minister added.
About growth momentum, the Prime Minister said that with economic growth at 6.6 percent in 2005-06, Pakistan''s economy has grown at an average rate of almost 7.0 percent per annum during the last four years, and over 7.5 percent in the last three years, thus enabling it to join the fastest growing economies of Asian region.
This year, the Prime Minister said, "we are expecting around 7 percent growth and all indicators show the growth will be higher. Agricultural production is better this year and as a result of the steps taken by the government an increase in yield per acre is expected."
He said that the privatisation programme is on track. The economic and political stability, consistency, continuity and openness of policies, good governance and transparency, which are the hallmarks of the government''s policies, have restored the confidence of investors, and foreign direct investments (FDIs) are at an all-time high, resulting in jobs creation and poverty alleviation, he added.
The Prime Minister appreciated World Bank''s assistance for the rehabilitation of earthquake affected areas. He said the rebuilding and rehabilitation programme is going on at a fast pace and 90 percent of the people who were living in tents almost a year ago are now in temporary shelters.
Almost 25 percent have started building their homes. All educational institutions and healthcare facilities are functioning in temporary structures and the government is providing better facilities to the people of these areas compared to what they had before October 8, 2005, the Prime Minister said.
Graeme Wheeler said Pakistan has a dynamic future and tremendous potential of development. He said that Pakistan is rich in human capital and the government''s policy to invest in human resource development will provide the country with more opportunities.
The World Bank Managing Director appreciated the infrastructure strengthening programmes of the government and said the idea of building multiple corridors linking Central Asia with Western China will create more opportunities in the region and more investments will be made here.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Division Hina Rabbani Khar, Vice President World Bank South Asia Region Praful C Patel, Executive Director World Bank Shuja Shah, Country Director World Bank John W. Wall and other officials.