Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar chaired thetripartite wrap-up meeting on Portfolio Review of USAID Projects inPakistan at Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The meeting was attended by officials of USAID and senior officers of theProvincial Governments & lined departments.
Pakistan and USA signed “Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA)” onSeptember 30, 2010. The volume of committed economic assistance under PEPAis USD 4.275 billion and out of this, in the last ten years USAID hasdisbursed USD 3.4 billion to Pakistan. The total number of on-goingprojects are 65, encompassing socio-economic sector like education, health,energy, agriculture, infrastructure/reconstruction, democracy & governance,economic growth and resilience.
The Minister appreciated the grant extended by USAID worth USD 32 millionunder PEPA to curtail the negative impact on the economy during thePandemic, which remained the highest grant assistance for combating COVIDin Pakistan.
He laid stress to improve this portfolio by synergized the developmentagenda to maximize the utility of this aid program in the country. He saidthat the government had simplified project planning, approval & executionprocess to expedite the process of project implementation.
The Federal Minister also indicated that the government would review thepolicy framework for grant assistance to make it demand-driven, publiccentric and multi-sectorial to cultivate maximum benefits for communities.He flagged the need for USAID economic grant for BISP, energy sectorreforms, and western corridor to strengthen the portfolio.
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The Minister also highlighted the role of the portfolio review sessions tosurveil the status of projects, identify the bottlenecks and set thetargets to expedite the implementation process. He underlined the need forregular reporting and coordination mechanisms between donor and recipientto execute the project in an efficient manner.
The Minister directed the heads of relevant departments to address thetechnical issues and safeguard the compliances to improve the performanceof USAID projects.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Mission Director thanked the Minister tochair the portfolio review sessions for the timely implementation of theProjects. She hoped that the economic cooperation between US and Pakistanwould be continued in the future.
