ISLAMABAD : Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (PDSI) & Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) that approved eight development projects worth of Rs144.3 billion.
“Out of these, five projects worth Rs15.35 billion have been approved by the CDWP forum, while it recommended three projects of Rs129 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for its consideration,” a news release said.
The meeting was attended among others by by Secretary Planning Awais Manzur Sumra, Additional Secretary Planning, Members of the Planning Commission, JCE (Ops), JCE (Ep), as well as respective federal secretaries, heads of provincial departments and representatives from federal ministries and provincial governments.
During the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the prime minister for entrusting him with the position of Deputy Chairman for the fourth time.
He highlighted the significance of the forum in relation to developmental projects, emphasizing that approval for development projects by CDWP exceeding one billion rupees was granted.
He pointed out that in 2018, the PML-N government left Pakistan’s development budget at 1,000 billion rupees.
However, six years later, the challenge remained to even maintain this figure due to the country’s economic crises and the 2018-2022 era’s mismanagement.
He stressed that the shrinking development budget demanded a focus on sustainable growth, currency stabilization, and economic stability through resource mobilization.
The deputy chairman also noted that a more than 50 percent of the total expenditure was consumed by debt servicing.
He emphasized the need to expand the tax net and promote exports.
Despite these challenges, he expressed optimism, acknowledging the government’s efforts to reduce the inflation rate from 35 per cent to 9.5 percent.
Ahsan Iqbal further stated that as 100 percent of federal government’s net resources were consumed by debt servicing and development budget was based on borrowing essential to ensure value for money through due diligence.
He called on all provinces and ministries to exercise the utmost caution and responsibility when planning new projects.
He urged that no compromise should be made on quality while preparing PC-I documents, and that national priorities should be considered while formulating any project. “Poorly prepared project documents should be promptly returned to the respective ministries.”
Ahsan Iqbal said the government was committed to turning around the economy by implementing 5Es National Economic Transformation Plan and restore 6 percent annual growth by 2029.
The CDWP approved a project “Reaching Out of School Children (OOSC) in AJK” worth Rs 7183.515 million, besides recommending the Establishment of Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cancer Treatment & Research, Lahore at the cost of Rs52772.520 million to ECNEC for consideration.
They forum also okayed four projects titled “Establishment of National Center of Artificial Intelligence (Revisited)” worth Rs1854.446 million; “Establishment of National Center of Excellence in Big Data and Cloud Computing (Revised)” worth Rs2383.186 million; “Establishment of National Center in Robotics and Automation (Revised)” worth Rs2043.663 million and “Establishment of National Center for Cyber Security (Revised)” worth Rs1887.794 million.
It recommended a project related to Transport & Communications namely “Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project (SFERP) Phase-II” worth Rs61308 million ECNEC for consideration.
The CDWP also recommended a project “Kachi Canal Project Restoration of Flood Damages 2022” worth Rs14701.427 million the ECNEC.
The forum cleared two Concept Papers namely “Recovery of Maternal and Child Health Care Equipment in Flood Affected Areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
