Government to initiate Rs 7.9 billion 'BLEP' through foreign funding

The government will initiate Rs7.9 billion worth of Balochistan Livelihood and Entrepreneurship Project (BLEP) wholly through international funding to promote employment opportunities and sustainability of enterprises in eight districts of the province, which are affected by prolonged refugee presence.

BLEP will target Killa Abdullah, Killa Saifullah, Chagai, Sherani, Pishin, Mastung, Zhob and Naushki districts in Balochistan, the official documents of the project indicated.

BLEP is sponsored by Planning and Development Department (P&D), Balochistan, which federal government approved in its Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting recently.

According to official documents, the project was approved at a total cost of Rs7.9 billion (US$50 million) -which includes financing through International Development Association.

The international financing includes loan amount of Rs3.225 billion ($20.41 million) and grant amount of Rs2.305 billion ($14.59 million).

The remaining Rs2.370 billion ($15 million) is grant from Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF).

The project is proposed to be completed by June 2024. The main objective of the project is to promote employment opportunities and sustainability of enterprises in eight districts of Balochistan, which are affected by prolonged refugee presence.

The project will benefit rural households by promoting livelihoods through enterprise development, provision of vocational skills and job creation. Further business support facilities and transport logistics will also be provided to beneficiaries.

The objective will be achieved through combination of skill enhancement, asset creation, facilities development and institutional development activities.

According to the documents, the government identified various issues, which are confronting these eight districts. These are low value income generating activities due to negligible resource mobilization at grass root level as well as low population density which results in high cost of service delivery by government institution.

Also, lack of vocational training and skills which reduces employability and consumption oriented behavior with less emphasis on investment.

The scope of the project includes promotion of income generating activities through provision of matching grants, business management trainings to entrepreneurs, great market exposures and access to infrastructure.

Also, high cost of services delivery will be reduced by leveraging local community base platforms i.e. local support organizations at union council level and provision of training & skills in context of specific trades in sectors of agriculture, livestock, small industries, mining and forestry.

Besides, savings & investments would be promoted and catalyzed through provision of matching grants and citizen engagement strategy would be rolled out to change's people behavior towards savings.