An agreement was signed between the Punjab government and International Finance Corporation (IFC) at Chief Minister's Secretariat on Wednesday to construct modern multigrain silos. Secretary Agriculture Captain Arif Nadeem (Retd) and a representative of IFC signed the agreement.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Provincial Food Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, Chairman Planning and Development, Secretaries of Food, Commerce and representatives of USAID were also present. The chief minister said that the construction of modern multigrain silos is the first ever project of its kind in the province. He said that the project is of vital importance. The construction of modern multigrain silos will prove to be a milestone.
He said that the silos would have the storage capacity of 800,000 metric tonnes of grains. He said that the recent floods have not only caused losses of lives and properties of people but also destroyed stocks of grains and this project would prove very useful.
He said that this project would be funded by USAID while IFC will provide consultancy. The project is an excellent example of public-private partnership. The IFC representative said that it is the first project of the company in Punjab and it will encourage private sector.
Earlier, the Punjab government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft under which Microsoft will provide modern software to Punjab government for reconstruction and speedy rehabilitation of flood affected people. Microsoft has prepared software known as "Eagle System" which will help in co-ordinating the efforts for meeting any crisis.
The Punjab province has the honour to adopt this modern technology. The software will be implemented by Microsoft Partner Geodan from Netherlands and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). Geodan will provide free initial training as a software package. Chairman PITB Javed Ghani on behalf of Punjab government while Everd Meijer on behalf of Microsoft Geodan singed the MoU.