ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives was informed that Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) has approved financial structure of projects at the cost of Rs646 billion in the last 18 months.

The committee met with Senator Quratul Ain Marri in the chair at Parliament House on Thursday.

While deliberating on the performance of the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A), Head of Corporate Affairs Syed Abrar Hussain highlighted that the objective of P3A is to execute public projects through private partnerships and make financial transactions structure of projects.

He said that the P3A has approved financial structure of projects worth Rs646 billion in the last 18 months. He said that it is the only public organisation providing consultancy services to the public sector with a minimum burden on exchequer.

He said that Rs150 billion is direct saving of the government subsidies in approved project. He said that there is Rs2,500 billion expected guaranteed revenue share from approved projects over concession period. He said that Rs2,000 billion expected corporate taxes for the government from approved projects over concession period. He said that the projects of Rs960 billion is expected P3A fee from approved projects while more than 31 active projects are in pipeline.

The Committee deliberated on the private member’s bill titled, “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022.”

Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir, the bill’s mover, informed that the bill proposes including Parliamentarians and members of Provincial Assemblies as members of the Board of Directors of the Authority.

Secretary for the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Awais Manzur Sumra apprised that the ministry has initiated the process for repealing the concerned authority, and it will be completed soon. The Committee decided to defer deliberation on the bill.

Moreover, the Committee was briefed by the Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI) on their mandate, role, and progress.

DG PPMI Dr Muhammad Ali Noor informed that the primary objective of PPMI is capacity building and enhance skills within public sector on various topics, especially project planning and management.

The Committee recommended that PPMI conduct a study to analyse the impact of its courses on the public sector.

Furthermore, the Committee discussed the progress of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).

PIDE Vice Chancellor Nadeemul Haque said that PIDE has published around 50 books and recently initiated a project, “RASTA,” which is solely focused on promoting evidence- and policy-based research work in the country.

He said that currently, it has a network of 3,200 researchers.

Additionally, PIDE analyses and evaluates the performance of public sectors to streamline the fault lines hindering their progress, he said.

The vice chancellor informed that PIDE has a workforce of approximately 250, including 200 supporting staff and 40 researchers.

He added that the majority of researchers did not have the capacity to undertake research tasks, and despite several warnings, no improvements were noted.

The Committee decided to schedule a separate briefing on the performance of PIDE employees.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024