PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah on Friday said that the province, especially the merged tribal districts, had been badly affected by the war against terrorism.

“War against militancy has affected the economy, peace, development and all other sectors,” Mr Shah told a foreign delegation during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House here.

The visitors were jointly led by country director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency Yeon Je Hoe and country manager of the United Nation Office for Project Services Jennifer Ankrom Khan, according to a statement issued by the CM’s House.

It added that the delegates discussed matters of mutual interest with the chief minister with a special focus on public welfare projects being executed in the province with the assistance of the UNOPs and Koica.

Says KP badly affected by war against terrorism

Mr Shah told them that development of the newly-merged tribal districts was a priority of the provincial government since those areas were badly affected during the war.

“Militancy is not a problem of this province but the entire country as well as the international community is also faced with this challenge,” he said, adding that the people of the province were on the front-line in the war against terrorism.

The chief minister said that despite numerous challenges and difficult financial situations, special efforts were being made for the purpose and the government also needed cooperation from international donor agencies and developmental organisations in that respect.

He said that economic development and prosperity was the better and an effective tool to combat the negative impacts of militancy and terrorism.

“The provincial government has devised the Human Resource Export Strategy under which the youth of KP will be imparted with market-based crash courses enabling them to get job opportunities,” he said.

Mr Shah said the country could provide skilled human force to foreign countries, especially its development partners, as per their demand.

He also discussed with the visitors the prospects of mutual cooperation in the near future, especially development projects for the merged tribal districts.

They also discussed matters related to the timely completion of ongoing development projects being implemented with the assistance of UNOPSand Koica, according to the statement.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024