ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, while urging the international community to continue to support Pakistan during this worst crisis, maintained that 70 per cent of the flood-hit areas were underdeveloped.

As per details, United States (US) Congressional delegation comprising Sheila Jackson, Tom Suozzi, Al Green on Monday called on Minister for Planning to extend their support to Pakistan during this difficult time after recent floods in the country.

The minister informed the delegation that the recent floods in the country have badly affected and preliminary estimates show that around $10 billion of the losses occurred particularly to the agriculture sector which is the backbone of Pakistan.

The minister said the recent floods were rain-induced unpredictably and were started by rains which were 500 per cent more than the normal prediction. “Pakistan is among the countries that have a low footprint in global warming; however, it is among the seven countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said the minister, while stressing the international community to set up a global fund for making the infrastructure resilient in developing countries.

He said that reconstruction and rehabilitation is the biggest challenge and the government is committed to starting the rehabilitation process soon after the first phase: rescue operations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022