LAHORE, April 21: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi will open the two-day fourth Punjab Development Forum tomorrow (Monday).
A number of foreign delegates and senior officials from multilateral donor agencies will be attending the PDF which has become a regular feature since 2003 when the first forum was organised by the Punjab Resource Management Programme.
The forum is used by the provincial government to showcase its reforms’ programme and its commitment to the social and economic development agenda as envisaged in the Vision 2020, and share the province’s development priorities with stakeholders — international development partners, private-sector professionals, civil society representatives, academics, scholars and students.
The debate and discussion on the province’s economic and social reforms and development agenda during the forum will ensure a high level of public understanding, deepening of the knowledge, and help the government evolve a shared development strategy between the local and international partners, according to a news release issued here on Saturday.
This year the forum will showcase and discuss the provincial government’s development priorities and reform partnerships, fiscal management reforms, strategy for infrastructure development in the cities to use them as engine of economic growth, public-sector reforms initiatives, and social sector and civil society during the six technical sessions.
During the deliberations, the provincial administration will inform the stakeholders and international partners about its achievements in the wide-ranging governance and fiscal reforms undertaken during the last few years to improve both economic and social sectors in the province as well as challenges that lie ahead.
The provincial strategy for achieving economic development by providing modern infrastructure in major cities, its development priorities for improving public service delivery and public reforms initiated in various areas to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and role of civil society as a collaborator of the public sector in improving social and economic conditions of the citizens will also be discussed by the speakers and guests.
Prominent among the speakers will be Asian Development Bank vice-president Liqun Jin, World Bank regional vice-president (South Asia) Praful Patel, UK’s DFID director (South Asia) Charlotte Seymour-Smith, World Bank Country Director Yusupha B Crookes, DFID Country Head Dr Yusuf Samiullah, ADB Country Director Peter Fedon, former caretaker finance minister Shahid Javed Burki, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Dr Salman Shah, state minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Punjab Planning & Development Board chairman Suleman Ghani, chief secretary Salman Siddique and PRMP Programme Director Asad Sumbal.
APP adds: PP&DB chairman Suleman Ghani told journalists that sanitation was a major issue to be addressed by the provincial government at the forum which would also introduce the Agriculture Marketing Act to revamp the agricultural marketing system.
“The government has already passed a consumer protection law and the proposed consumer courts will be set up by the end of this year,” he said.
The PDF would also discuss commercialisation policy, building laws and water supply system. The district governments would need to execute reforms in these areas under the provincial policies if they wanted to receive funds, Mr Ghani said.
The government, he said, had worked out a policy for investment in five big cities of Punjab as part of its programme to treat cities as engines of economic growth.
“Pension and GP funds will be made an off-budget item by the end of this year as part of governance reforms,” he said, adding that it would take a huge financial burden off the back of the provincial government and allow it greater room to increase the budget on infrastructure and social-sector development.