Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described Country Partnership Framework (CPF) on Thursday, a historic initiative for the World Bank through a strategic cooperation of a decade to stimulate employment possibilities, initiatives led by IT and resilience climate guaranteeing economic stability.
It was addressed to the launching ceremony of the $ 20 billion national partnership framework (CPF) which is a transformative initiative marking the longest development partnership between Pakistan and the global financial institution. Strategic collaboration aims to meet the pressing economic and developmental challenges of Pakistan while promoting growth, climate resilience and technological progress.
The Prime Minister thanked the World Bank for trusting Pakistan after committing to providing $ 20 billion as part of Country Partnership (CPF).
The Prime Minister stressed that the World Bank had supported Pakistan through various pivotal projects, ranging from the management of hydroelectricity and water to transformative economic reforms.
He expressed his gratitude to the World Bank team for their leadership in the development of the framework, describing it as a timely intervention to overcome the immense challenges of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister underlined the progress in the digitization of the Federal Board of Return (FBR), introducing a pilot project to the port of Karachi to reduce the collusion between importers and customs agents. The initiative, which presents facialless interactions, aims to increase interior income while slowing down corruption, he added.
“These funds will be channeled in social protection projects for Pakistan’s most vulnerable populations,” he said.
The Prime Minister ensured the total commitment of the government to implement the FCP, urging unity among politicians, experts and bureaucrats to achieve the ambitious objectives of the framework.
“The presence of the vice-president (of the World Bank) demonstrates here the confidence of the World Bank in the evolutionary system of Pakistan, which takes daring and expected stages towards draft and functionality,” he said to remark.
The Prime Minister extended his thank you vote to the Vice-President of the World Bank in the German language and underlined the preparation of Pakistan for a new era of development, emphasizing public-private partnerships and sustainable growth in Virtue of the CPF.
The Vice-President of the World Bank for the Southern Asia region, Martin Rerser, congratulated the recent economic reforms in Pakistan and reiterated the institution’s commitment to the partnership.
“The CPF will anchor the necessary economic stability in Pakistan and the region,” he said, congratulating the Prime Minister’s management and urging continuous collaboration to ensure the success of the program.
Najy Benhassine, Director of the World Bank of Pakistan, said that the $ 20 billion “are an indicative figure projecting our current commitments and the decision concerning the project, the program loan and provincial actions would be taken after discussions with authorities”. Targets are estimates depending on what we have achieved or can achieve, he added.
The growth rate of growth of children in Pakistan is 38%, one of the highest in the world and exceeds 60% in the poorest rural districts. The level of education is also low, with 25.4 million children aged 5 to 16 (a third of the age group), most of them girls.
During the next decade, the World Bank aims to provide health, nutrition and quality population services to 50 million people. It also plans to guarantee that 30 million women use modern contraceptives and provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to 60 million people.
About 12 million children – almost half of those currently outside the school – will receive quality education. By 2035, 30 million people will reach nutritional security and 75 million will earn increased climate resilience.
Martin said that the resources of the World Bank group are not sufficient to carry out the ambitions of the national partnership framework, therefore, it is necessary to contact the private sector and to catalyze investments in the private sector. He said the World Bank would also collaborate with international development partners to align objectives and pool resources.
The new CPF is strategically designed to complete the government’s program and to meet the most important challenges in the country, the vice-president said.
The development, the lever effect and the long -term approach and the tangible targets are the essence of the new framework and marks a departure in the way we engage with Pakistan, said Martin. Pakistan is the pioneer of the Revolution and the World Bank’s board of directors was also enthusiastic about the new approach, he added.
Martin RISPE, Vice-President of the World Bank for South Asia, said the World Bank would adjust the course as the framework of the country partnership was progressing. Some areas can progress faster than others and the plans will be modified in the light of new changes while keeping in mind the long-term lasting objectives, he added.
To a question, Najy said that digital transformation is a 100% catalyst for the government to achieve the development objective of Pakistan. “This morning, we had long discussions with President Nadra by looking at reforms and current actions and the potential of Digital Pakistan is enormous,” said Najy.
Digital transformation is a 100% catalyst for the implementation of the CPF and that is no doubt, he added.
Najy said there were also two connection themes, transport infrastructure and digital solutions. He said that to reduce poverty learning, it would be necessary to build many rural roads.
Najy said the World Bank’s new macroeconomic projections will be updated in April this year. The new executive of the World Bank also aims to increase the tax / GDP of Pakistan to 15% in a decade and to increase public spending over the lower half of the population by 60%.
Zeeshan Sheikh, director of the country of Pakistan and Afghanistan, has said that, to date, the investment of the private sector is very low in terms of global size of the Pakistani economy and that the problems that hinder the investment will be treated under the new strategy.
A decade partnership aims to take up the most difficult economic challenges that Pakistan’s economy is facing today, said Dr. Kazim Niaz, secretary to economic affairs.
