Mr. John Hurley, USA’s Alternative Executive Director at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board calls on Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar

Dated : 16 November 2021

Mr. John Hurley, USA’s Alternative Executive Director at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board calls on Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar here in Islamabad on Tuesday. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, CEO Public Private Partnership Authority, Mr. Yong Ye, Country Director, ADB, and senior officials attended the meeting.

During the meeting, various infrastructure, energy, Disaster Management & Climate Resilience, Urban Services, Social services Education, Ehsaas Program, and health-related projects being funded by the ADB came under discussion.

Minister welcomed Mr. Hurley on his first official visit to Pakistan and expressed his gratitude to the ADB management for efficiently processing and successfully procuring COVID-19 vaccines to support the Government’s national vaccination drive.

The Minister expressed that given the rapid pace of urbanization and population growth, urban infra is a priority area. Further, efficient roads & digital networks are fundamental to employment and growth.

Asad Umar said that climate change is one of the top priorities of our government, there is a need to enhance the capacity of the National Disaster and Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) to effectively tackle calamities occurring throughout the country. The board of NDRMF has also changed. The new NDRMF chief executive is also expected to join soon, who will jointly work with ADB to revisit the portfolio of NDRMF and access the other global climate change funds through the NDRMF.

Mr. John Hurley thanked the Planning Minister for a warm welcome and reiterated ADB’s commitment to supporting Pakistan’s reform agendas undertaken by the present government. He also acknowledged the efforts made by Pakistan for effective management of the Covid-19 crisis. He said that ADB is fully committed to providing assistance to the developing countries for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines. He highlighted that Pakistan’s efforts to curtail the Covid-19 pandemic have minimized indigenous economic shock up to great extent.

The two sides also deliberated upon new possibilities of economic cooperation in the Post-COVID situation. Mr. John Hurley, reiterated ADB’s commitment to supporting Pakistan’s reform agenda, especially within the Energy and Financial Markets Sectors, and to speed up the economic recovery process.