Daily Times

URUMQI: Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao on Friday. Various matters related to ADB financed development projects in different sectors came under discussion.

The finance minister appreciated ADB’s support to the CAREC initiative, which was helping to bring the member countries closer through cooperation in areas like trade and transportation. He said that regional connectivity was extremely important for the member countries of CAREC, as this region had lacked regional trade and cooperation in the past as compared to other regions in the world. He said that ADB’s support to CAREC Institute was also commendable and hoped that the institute would play its due role in devising innovative solutions for regional development issues.

Nakao thanked the minister for his continued encouragement for ADB supported initiatives in Pakistan and assured to further enhance the level of cooperation in the years to come. He said that ADB would continue to lend financial and technical support to the CAREC member countries wishing to enhance regional cooperation. He said that there was immense potential for regional connectivity projects in the CAREC region. The finance minister and the ADB president also discussed matters related to various ongoing ADB funded projects in Pakistan as well those in the pipeline.

Published in Daily Times, September 9^th 2017.