Punjab government to complete 10 socio-economic projects with international development partners

The Punjab government has planned to complete 10 socio-economic development projects in collaboration with the international development partners during the financial year 2017-18. According to the budget documents, the government will take initiative on "Strengthening Markets for Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SMART)".
The purpose of this project is to remove market distortions, provide skill development opportunities, provide easy access to information and technology, and improve access to finance & tools to improve use of land, improve performance of social and institutional structures and supply of economic infrastructure and basic facilities.
The World Bank Groups is providing $50 million for Punjab Cultural Heritage and Economic Growth Project to preserve religious sites of Sikhs, Bhudhists and Hindu communities and to promote cultural and religious tourism in the province. This project is expected to boost the tourism and allied industries of the province by providing the technical and financial support to Government of the Punjab. Besides, the government would also undertake a project for enhancing public private partnership in Punjab with the financial support of $100 million.
Government is working rigorously under public and private partnership to improve its performance against the doing business indicators that fall in provincial domain. World Bank Group's Doing Business Report 2017 has listed Pakistan among the top ten reformers in the world. The Punjab government with technical and financial support of the World Bank has also launched $100 million (2016-2021) Jobs & Competitiveness Programme to support interventions envisaged under Ease of Doing Business Reform Agenda. The programme also supports the sustainable development of Industrial Zones and Cluster following a Provincial Economic Development Plan.
The Project Development Objective (PDO) under the Punjab Skills Development Project is aimed at improving the quality, labour market relevance of, and access to skills training programs in priority sectors in Punjab. The project would be implemented over a five-year period, from 2015 to 2020 that would be financed through a $50 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA), using an Investment Project Financing (IPF) lending instrument.
Asian Development Bank is providing $159.93 million for Flood Emergency Reconstruction & Resilience Project. This include rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood damaged roads, bridges, irrigation and flood protection infrastructure in Punjab and to develop well-articulated systems to strengthen disaster risk reduction initiatives and early warning system to support ex-ante disaster risk management activities.
The Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Program is aimed at improving the quality of life of the residents living in the five cities of Punjab ie Sialkot, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Sargodha and to transform the intermediate cities into more efficient and accountable urban centres.
Moreover, Punjab Education Support Project III is the continuation of the Phase II of the Punjab Education Support Project. World Bank will provide $300 million in five years for education sector through this project. The main objective of this project is the achievement of 100 percent primary school enrolment of out of school children. The UK's DFID funded programme- Sub-National Governance Programme- is into its fourth year of operation and has supported Finance Department, Planning and Development Department, Local Government and City District Department, Health Department, School Education Department and other agencies to transform processes and build critical capacity to bring about key governance reforms. The programme also made a major contribution in assisting the transition to new local government structures. It also successfully introduced the element of innovation in service delivery. In its final year, the Programme will continue to provide assistance in mainstreaming these reforms.
World Bank will provide $130 million in five years for agriculture sector through Punjab Irrigated Agricultural Productivity Improvement Programme that would support the continuing efforts of the Punjab to promote private sector participation in irrigation and agriculture and contribute to productivity outcomes through continuing investments in high efficiency irrigation technologies; fostering agricultural value chains; and private sector participation for agribusiness.
These initiatives of the provincial government focus more on economic growth, human resource development, agriculture productivity, public private partnership and social and equitable development. As a result of these initiatives and aforementioned features of the development programme, the Annual Development Programme 2017-18 is more aligned with the growth strategy objectives and CPEC framework, and will further enable the accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Among the seventeen SDGs goals the major focus is on good health and well-being, and quality education in the ADP allocations. Moreover, this year's ADP acts as a tool for the provincial departments to develop interventions that catalyse growth from the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor).