The government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed five funding agreements totalling $775 millionto to be used in the recovery and reconstruction operations in the flood-affected regions of Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
The initiative is expected to help with the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems, the mitigation of flood risk, the management of on-farm water resources, and the improvement of the provinces’ power and transportation systems.
A project to increase skilled workers’ access to high-quality jobs in Punjab is also a part of the agreements that have been reached.
Dr. Kazim Niaz, the secretary of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), and Asad Aleem, the deputy country director of the ADB, signed the agreements. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the minister of economic affairs, was present for the signing event.
The finance arrangements also include a $475 million concessional loan for the Emergency Flood Assistance Project, which will help Pakistan’s efforts at recovery and reconstruction as well as its ability to withstand natural disasters and climate change.
The EAD stated in a statement that this is “the most concessional loan ever provided by ADB to the Government of Pakistan at 1% with a repayment period of 40 years.”
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For post-calamity rehabilitation of the power infrastructure, including transmission lines and substations, in the geographical areas impacted by the recent floods, a $189 million agreement was also signed under the Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme (Tranche 4).
Another financing agreement worth another $100 million was also signed to upgrade 20 institutions and create four Centers of Excellence to train 96,000 people (including 29,000 women) in Punjab’s priority economic sectors of light engineering, textile and garment production, food processing, ICT, tourism and hospitality, automobile/motorbike assembly, parts and repair, health, and construction.
Additionally, two project-ready financing facilities for the Naulong Dam Project ($5 million) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Resources Development Project ($3.6 million) were signed.
Mr Sadiq thanked the ADB management for their continued and enhanced financial support towards the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-affected infrastructure, the development of the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutional framework as well as the development of water resources in the country.
He said that the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) Report, launched in November estimated a requirement of $16.3bn for reconstruction efforts and the ADB financing was the first in the series of development assistance for flood reconstruction that the federal government would arrange in the coming year. He also appreciated the government departments for designing and seeking approval for the flood-related projects in a record time of two months.
This story was adapted from Dawn.
