Work on $6.6bn ADB-funded projects to be expedited: Bukhtiar

ISLAMABAD : The government will review the progress of ongoing Asian Development Bank-funded projects quarterly to expedite the implementation of the projects. This was stated by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdum Khusro Bukhtiar while chairing the tripartite wrap-up meeting on portfolio review of ADB-funded projects here at the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Wednesday. The volume of ADB-funded projects is US $6.6 billion. The minister appreciated the role of ADB in supporting the development agenda of Pakistan. He underscored the importance of efficient and effective planning and execution of projects funded by ADB. The minister also highlighted the role of the portfolio review sessions to survey the status of projects, identify the bottlenecks and set the targets to expedite the implementation process. He directed the line departments to galvanize the ADB-funded projects. The projects related to Power Division, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of National Health Services and Research, Ministry of Climate Change, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) were reviewed on the first day of the review. The meeting was attended by Country Director ADB Xiaohong Yang, deputy chairman planning commission and senior officers of line ministries. The two-day portfolio review session is being organized by the Economic Affairs Division.