Daily Times

Terming Pakistan as an important partner country, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Tuesday reiterated commitment to supporting the country in meeting development goals and overcoming climate-related challenges through policy and budgetary support.

The reiteration was made by AIIB delegation led by its Vice President Client Region and Project Finance Global, Konstantin Limitovskiy that called on finance minister here, according to press release issued by finance ministry.

During the meeting, the AIIB team briefed the Minister about the Bank’s portfolio investment in Pakistan, including projects initiated in the hydro power generation, building road and transport sector, urban infrastructure development, building climate resilience and dealing with adverse impacts of pandemics, conflicts and climate-induced flood disasters.

The status of ongoing projects and the need for diverting the Bank’s financing from power generation to the transmission and distribution system in view of surplus capacity requiring evacuation were also discussed.

On the occasion, the finance minister acknowledged the bank’s support for Pakistan, particularly its funding and technical assistance in dealing with natural disasters and the impacts of climate change and disaster preparedness on a long-term basis.

He expressed satisfaction over the progress of AIIB projects in Pakistan and emphasized further efforts to improve the disbursement of ongoing projects.

He also recalled his meeting with the President of AIIB, Jin Liqun in Washington DC last month, and mentioned his conversation with Liqun regarding Pakistan’s desire to diversify its financing base by exploring the possibility of issuing a Panda bond with AIIB anchoring the process through partial guarantee to send out a strong signal to the market.