A virtual meeting was held between the Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr. Omer Ayub Khan and the Chief Representative, JICA Pakistan, Mr. Shigeki FURUTA to discuss the ongoing portfolio and future development intervention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Akihiro TAKASHIMA, Dr. Haroon and Mr. Tsuruoka NORIYUKI of JICA and senior officials of Economic Affairs Division.
Talking on the occasion, the Minister expressed that Pakistan values the bilateral and friendly relations with Japan and both countries share common views on most of the regional and international economic issues. Japanese economic assistance has played and shall continue to play a vital role in the socio economic uplift of Pakistan.
The Minister highlighted that the priority areas for the Government of Pakistan on KP Portfolio have enhanced due to merger of FATA into the KP Province. In order to boost economic activities in the province, the Government is committed to enhance investments in construction / rehabilitation of farm to market roads; improve immunization and provision of health & educational facilities, especially for girls & women; cold storage management; water supply & solid waste management; and skill development for youth.
Mr. Furuta, Chief Representative, JICA thanked the Minister for the meeting and shared that currently Japanese assistance is focused on social sector, disaster management, water treatment, infrastructure and agriculture sector. He also discussed possibilities to expand the scope of cooperation in line with development priorities of the Government of Pakistan.
The participants appreciated Japanese support for development of Master Plan for Transport System in Lahore & Karachi and requested the JICA to provide technical cooperation for preparation of master plan for improvement of transport system in major cities of KP Province. Both sides also agreed to expedite the implementation of on-going portfolio to ensure timely completion of projects.
