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ISLAMABAD – The Economic Affairs Division on Tuesday signed two FinancingAgreements worth $400 million with the World Bank to finance two projectsincluding Punjab Cities Programme ($200 million) and Punjab GreenDevelopment Programme ($200 million).

Secretary, Economic Affairs Division Syed Ghazanfar Abbas Jilani signed theFinancing Agreements on behalf of the Government of Pakistan whilerepresentatives of Government of Punjab signed their respective Program andOperation Agreements.

Country Director, World Bank Patchamuthu Illangovan, signed the Financingand Program and Operation Agreements on behalf of the World Bank.

Punjab Cities Programme aims to strengthen the performance of participatingurban local governments in urban management and service delivery.

The Programme will Support the Operation Implementing Entity’simplementation of its Performance-Based Grants (PBG) program to selected 16MCs for strengthening their institutional performance and the carrying outeligible infrastructure investments.

The objectives of the Punjab Green Development Programme are to strengthenenvironmental governance and promote green investments in Punjab Province.

Activities under the first results area will aim to restructure theEnvironment Protection Department (EPD), reform the environmentalregulatory regime, and build the EPD’s capacity to deliver transparent andefficient environmental management services to the private sector and tothe public.

Activities under the second results area aim to promote selected greeninvestments in both the public and private sectors and develop greenfinancing schemes to finance such investments beyond the implementationperiod of this program.

The Secretary, Economic Affairs Division thanked the World Bank forextending its continuous support to the Government of Pakistan in itsefforts to achieve sustainable development in the country.