Federal Minister for Planning and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that there is a need to encourage the private sector to come forward and participate in infrastructure development which is a priority of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

The minister was chairing the 3rd Board of Directors meeting of the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) here on Wednesday. The deputy chairman Planning Commission, country director ADB and other members of the board participated in the meeting.

The meeting reviewed various proposals relating to formulation of rules under the PPP Authority Act. The minister emphasized the importance of early finalization of PPPA rules, so as to fully utilize the authority's potential.

The National Highway Authority (NHA) team briefed the board on the commercial feasibility of Sukkar-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project. The board directed the NHA to expeditiously complete the remaining work on the feasibility to enable early launch of the project.

The minister directed the management of the authority to expedite work on the other projects in the pipeline. He said that the public-private partnership has a lot of potential which needs to be fully utilized. While the government wants the private sector to participate and invest in infrastructure projects, it would be willing to fill the financing gaps wherever feasible, he added.