PESHAWAR: A consultative meeting of the high ups of provincial government and the World Bank was held here with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair to deliberate on the expansion and enhancement of cooperation and collaboration in various social sectors of the province.
Concerned provincial cabinet members, Chief Secretary and administrative secretaries of the concerned departments attended the meeting whereas the World Bank team was headed by Country Director Najy Benhassine, according to an official communiqué issued here.
The meeting discussed threadbare venues of enhanced collaboration in various potential sectors including Health, Education, Agriculture, Live Stock, Irrigation, Green Energy, Road Infrastructure and Tourism etc., and it was agreed in principle to enhance collaboration to boost these sector with the aim to improve social sector service delivery, create maximum employment opportunities and strengthen the economy of the province. The concerned departments were directed for necessary actions to this end on priority basis.
Talking on this occasion, the Chief Minister welcomed the World Bank’s intent to further enhance collaboration with the provincial government and said that the provincial government highly valued the World Bank’s ongoing cooperation in various social sectors.
He assured that the provincial government would take all the necessary measures on priority basis, and extend all possible support to ensure the timely completion of various initiatives being carried out by the province with the joint collaboration of the World Bank.
Touching upon various public welfare initiatives of his government, the Chief Minister said that his government was working on an initiative to give special package to the expected women in rural areas to address the issue of stunting growth in children adding that the provincial government intends to launch Education Card on the analogy of Health Card for free education facilities to the deserving population.
Similarly, he said, a project has been reflected in the upcoming ADP to provide solar energy to the deserving households of the province, whereas a project to provide soft loans to youth for starting small scale business is also part of the new ADP.
CM Gandapur remarked that his government was working under a well-planned strategy to strengthen the potential revenue generating sectors of the province including Mines and Minerals, Agriculture, Live Stock, Tourism, Hydel Power etc on modern lines in order to enhance revenue of the provincial government adding that food security is one of the important priority area of his government, and number initiatives are being taken to bring the vast barren land of south region under cultivation by ensuring effective and prudent use of available water resources.
The Chief Minister said that his government would welcome enhanced collaboration of the World Bank in the above mentioned sectors.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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