PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Friday said that it was one of the top priorities of his government to provide employment opportunities to the people in the province and promote self-employment among talented youth.

In a meeting with a delegation from the Asian Development Bank at the Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, the chief minister declared the ADB an important development partner of the provincial government.

“We [government] want to continue with this partnership in a more integrated and effective manner,” he told visitors.

The delegation discussed with the chief minister matters related to ADB-KP cooperation, with a focus on development projects for public welfare being carried out in the province with the assistance of the bank, according to an official statement issued here.

Provincial minister Arshad Ayub was also present in the meeting.

The chief minister said work was in progress on a number of development projects in various sectors with the financial assistance of the ADB.

He, however, said that the provincial government wanted to further enhance and extend the cooperation and partnership with the ADB in other sectors, including water supply, solar energy, flood protection, solid waste management, urban transport, agriculture, livestock, food security, and social services.

“We expect special cooperation from our development partner for the development of newly merged districts and other backward areas of the province,” he said.

Mr Gandapur said that a programme was in the works to “renovate” all major cities in the province.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project, assisted by the ADB, was an important project of the provincial government.

“We need special cooperation for implementing Phase II of this project as well,” he said.

The chief minister said that the provincial government had a lot to do in different sectors, especially in tourism, health, education, and public health engineering.

He said that his government would like to work in partnership with the ADB to provide basic facilities in the social services sector.

The visitors told the chief minister that the coordination between his government and the ADB for development work in the province was excellent.

They said that the performance of the provincial government’s team regarding the implementation of development projects was remarkable.

The delegates said that the Asian Development Bank intended to promote cooperation and development partnerships with the provincial government in different sectors.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2024