Daily Times

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Pakistan discussed the development priorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

A virtual meeting was held between the Minister for Economic Affairs, Omer Ayub Khan and the Chief Representative, JICA Pakistan, Shigeki Furuta to discuss the ongoing portfolio and future development intervention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said ministry. The meeting was also attended by Akihiro Takashima, Dr. Haroon and Tsuruoka Noriyuki of JICA and senior officials of the Economic Affairs Division.

Talking on the occasion, the minister expressed that Pakistan values the bilateral and friendly relations with Japan and both countries share common views on most of the regional and international economic issues. Japanese economic assistance has played and shall continue to play a vital role in the socio economic uplift of Pakistan.

The minister highlighted that the priority areas for the Government of Pakistan on KP portfolio have enhanced due to merger of FATA into the KP Province.

In order to boost economic activities in the province, the Government is committed to enhance investments in construction/rehabilitation of farm to market roads; improve immunization and provision of health and educational facilities, especially for girls and women; cold storage management; water supply and solid waste management; and skill development for youth.

Chief Representative, JICA Furuta, thanked the Minister for the meeting and shared that currently Japanese assistance is focused on the social sector, disaster management, water treatment, infrastructure and agriculture sector. He also discussed possibilities to expand the scope of cooperation in line with development priorities of the Government of Pakistan.