ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday met with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Chief for Rural Development and Food Security Dr Akmal Siddiq and discussed a comprehensive strategy to boost agricultural sector of the country.

PM Khan said the provision of all possible facilities to farmer community is government’s top priority as agriculture sector was the backbone of the country’s economy as a huge chunk of population was attached directly or indirectly to it.

He said the government was also focusing on fisheries and farming sectors, besides increasing production of wheat, rice and other major crops through introduction of modern modes and technologies.

The government is also keen to take advantage from the Chinese experience in the agriculture sector, he added.

ADB announces $2bn investment in energy sector

During the meeting, issues pertaining to the agriculture sector challenges faced by the developing countries especially Pakistan, like technology, environment, lack of facilities in research, development and marketing which negatively impacted this sector, and the technical assistant, future mechanism and other support provided by the Asian Development Bank in the agriculture sector were discussed at length.

Briefing PM about the study conducted by the ADB and its recommendations, Akmal said the agriculture sector, under the present requirements, especially due to introduction of the modern technology, required consistent patronage from the government.

He said that special focus should be made on research and development, provision and supply of latest seeds, chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides etc), availability of financial resources, cold chain and marketing.

Kamal said the ADB had approved a grant of $1 million for the promotion of information and technology in this sector and the project would commence from next year.

Besides, the bank also plans to introduce corporate agriculture on wider scale for the promotion of agriculture sector in Balochistan province especially in the Kacchi canal area, he added.

On a separate occasion, a delegation led by ADB’s Director General for Central and West Asia Department Werner Liepach met with Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan and Assistant to PM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and announced an investment of $2 billion in the energy sector during the next three years.

The ADB remains country’s top energy sector partner with $2.1bn with $300 million released this week for sector reforms including addressing the circular debt.

The meeting took stock of the ADB-funded projects in the energy sector and it was decided that a comprehensive portfolio review meeting would be held by the end of this month between Power Division and bank officials to steer the projects to their logical culmination.

It was also agreed that both sides would make efforts to ensure maximum transparency during the execution of projects.

The ADB team was also apprised regarding the approval of New Renewable Energy Policy which will be placed before Council of Common Interest in its scheduled meeting by the end of this month.

The team was also briefed regarding various steps taken by the Power Division to boost system efficiency and campaign against power theft. The team was also notified on the circular debt capping plan which is being perused and implemented by the Power Division resulting in considerable reduction in its growth from Rs39bn a month to Rs12bn per month.

The ADB also showed interest in facilitating technical studies for the gas storage facility in Pakistan and said it would consider financing the project as well, Werner Liepach added.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019