December 4, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 8, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide $2.7 billion for 26 “firm development projects” but it wants Pakistan to improve its human development index and reduce high incidence of poverty in the country.

“The government needs to undertake the necessary reform programme on these issues which are very vital for Pakistan,” said ADB’s Country Director for Pakistan Marshuk Ali Shah.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, he said a $2.7 billion three-year (2004-06) Country Strategy and Programme Update (CSPU) had been proposed under which $890 million would be extended to Pakistan annually.

“We expect that the Pakistan government will undertake the reform programme besides ensuring accountability so that the 26 firm development projects could be completed well in time,” he said.

Responding to a question, the ADB director said no condition was linked to the bank’s new assistance. He, however, added that the ADB expected that the government would make sure that the concerned ministries and line departments performed their duties satisfactorily.

The major objective of the ADB assistance, Mr Shah said, was to alleviate poverty and improve human development indicators which, he regretted, were unfortunately very low compared to other developing countries.

The ADB, he pointed out, would intensify its emphasis on rural development and employment generation to ensure that the growth was pro-poor.

He also referred to the latest “Pakistan Assessment Review” prepared by the ADB which focused on good governance and envisaged expanded assistance in the agriculture and rural development sectors.

The focus on assistance in the social sector, transport and communication sector and energy sector, would continue under the CSPU. The three-year assistance programme covered nine sectors which included agriculture and rural development, water resources, water supply and sanitation and urban development, finance, social sectors including education, health and population, trade and industry, governance, energy and transport and telecommunications.

The CSPU for 2004-06 affirmed that the strategic priorities outlined in the Country Strategy and Programme (CSP) would continue to be relevant and were in line with the priorities of the new government and would therefore remain unchanged.

To this end, the ADB would support the ongoing governance and macroeconomic reforms through provision of assistance for the second generation reforms at the provincial and sector levels.

Gender reforms would be an integral part of the governance programme and the ADB strategy would focus on supporting political, administrative and fiscal initiatives to consolidate the reform programme.

As regards social development, the ADB’s emphasis would remain on improving delivery of social services by supporting both increased public sector allocations made possible by enhanced fiscal space, and improved governance through strengthening devolution, social administration and financial management.

To a question, the ADB country director said the ADB/Pakistan partnership needed to be strengthened so that the issues confronting the nation specially that of poverty could be addressed properly.

Initially, he said $200 million would be disbursed shortly for the Punjab Resource Management project to be followed by similar programmes in other three provinces.