Finance minister interacts with World Bank President Ajay Banga in Bangkok

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met World Bank President Ajay Banga during a dinner hosted by Thailand’s prime minister on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF annual meetings in Bangkok.

“The occasion provided an opportunity for informal interaction alongside the ongoing high-level engagements at the annual meetings,” the finance ministry said on Friday.

Earlier, Banga said the development lender has set a goal of quintupling its critical minerals business ​in five years, and has identified 20 countries that it ‌can partner with on critical minerals development projects.

Banga revealed the new goal in prepared remarks to a plenary session.

“In critical minerals, we plan to quintuple our ​business in five years,” Banga said. “This week, we launched our ⁠first country compacts with MDB partners—to build local industries and keep ​more jobs and value at home.”

The World Bank’s new Metals and Minerals ​implementation plan is targeting $19 billion in critical minerals financing over the fiscal 2026-2030 period, compared with $3.6 billion in the fiscal 2021-2025 period.

On Thursday, Pakistan and the World Bank committed to accelerating implementation of the Country Partnership Framework 2026-2035, with a focus on project preparedness, concessional financing and investments in human development and climate resilience.

The development came during a meeting between Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Pakistan’s Governor to the World Bank Group (WBG), Ahad Khan Cheema, and Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations, World Bank.

The minister underscored the government’s resolve to translate the CPF’s objectives into tangible development outcomes, calling for enhanced technical and financial support, integrated multisectoral programs and digital monitoring systems to track progress and measure impact.