Islamabad, Nov 4: New ADB Country Director Meets with Finance Minister. Emma Fan, the new Country Director of the Asian Development Bank in Pakistan, and Asad Aleem, the Deputy Country Director-ADB Pakistan, visited the Minister at the Finance Division today to meet with Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue.
The minister congratulated Fan on her assignment in Pakistan and expressed the hope that during her time there, the long-term collaboration between Pakistan and ADB would deepen and that the Bank would continue to be a key component of Pakistan’s development plan. He also gave her an update on the economy’s current status and the ongoing changes being made to SOEs, taxes, energy, and other sectors to improve their sustainability, efficiency, and governance.
Fan reminded the minister that the ADB was developing a new country partnership plan for Pakistan, with an emphasis on crucial areas including climate change, economic growth, and prosperity, and expressed gratitude for the reforms implemented in many economic sectors.
She gave the minister an update on the ADB’s portfolio investments, current and planned projects in Pakistan, and the Bank’s support for poverty alleviation, economic reforms, socioeconomic development, and climate change, in addition to policy-based funding and budgetary assistance for the nation.
As part of a broad and significant cooperation and collaboration with Pakistan, she said the ADB has seven projects for the country this year and 16 projects scheduled for the following year. She also gave the minister an update on the Bank’s ongoing SOE and SME reforms, financial aid for poverty alleviation, support for power distribution companies to install smart meters at the transformer and grid level, the creation of an early flood warning system, the digitization drive in FBR, and other projects.
