ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives has launched a 16-month performance report while highlighting its key achievements made from April 2022 to August 2023.
The 29-page report contained details of achievements made by the ministry from April 19, 2022 to August 9, 2023, a news release said on Sunday.
During the period under review, the Planning Commission managed to hold 33 meetings of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and 12 meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
A large number of development projects and schemes of strategic significance were considered and approved during this period, said the report.
The report emphasized that special attention was given to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) as the Planning Ministry increased the PSDP from Rs500 billion to Rs1150 billion for 2023-2024, overcoming financial limitations while ensuring transparency through the PSDP Portal, which provides digital access to 1.1 trillion worth of PSDP data.
While highlighting the performance of the CDWP, the reports said that CDWP-approved projects showed the sensitization of priorities to carry out national development schemes. After the infrastructural projects, the major emphasis had been laid on the projects of human resources development.
It further said since April 2022, the Planning Ministry has placed special emphasis on youth empowerment and inclusive development.
This section includes several strategic initiatives undertaken by the Ministry as part of the PM’s Youth Development Programme.
Under this programme, six initiatives are on education, four centre around engagement and opportunities, and two each for employment and entrepreneurship.
Similarly, the report said, National Top Talent Scholarship Programme would provide the Pakistani students with Masters and Ph.D. degrees in the top 25 universities of the world, for which Rs 4.7b had been allocated.
The establishment of Centres of Excellence on Emerging Technologies, the National Centre for Nano-Technology, the National Centre for Quantum Computing and the National Institute of New Manufacturing was a great success of the Planning Ministry. Furthermore, the establishment of the National Growth Centre would help in increasing the country’s growth, the report added.
Despite an already ailing economy, the Ministry conducted the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and devised a resilient relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (4RF) framework.
It resulted in pledges of $10 billion from international donors during an international conference on Climate Resistant Pakistan in Geneva on January 9, said the report.
The report highlighted that on November 12, 2022, a pioneering initiative worth Rs 40 billion was launched, targeting 20 underdeveloped districts. This marked the Federal Government’s first-time intervention to uplift impoverished districts, addressing economic disparities.
Simultaneously, the Planning Ministry reconstituted the Advisory Committee to enhance policy formulation and implementation. The crowning achievement was the launch of the ‘5Es Framework to Turnaround Pakistan’, prioritizing Exports, Energy, Environment, E-Pakistan, and Equity & Empowerment. This framework would prove to be the bedrock for transforming Pakistan into a $1 trillion economy by 2035.