Pakistan is going to seek US more proactive role in public and private sector investment in Pak-US dialogue, commencing from October 21-22 in Washington.
Finance Special Secretary Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan told Business Recorder that Pakistan's official delegation headed by PM's Adviser on finance Dr Salman Shah will hold dialogue with US authorities to find ways and means to strengthen Pak-US economic co-operation. Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan will also be the part of the delegation.
He said: "We are going to Washington on October 17 to attend the World Bank and the IMF annual meeting scheduled for October 19 and 20. The donors meeting will be followed by Pak-US dialogue for economic co-operation. Other members of the delegation will be Finance Secretary Ahmed Waqar and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar.
The Pak team will have bilateral meetings with the WB and the IMF to give them more specific views of Pak economy. Pakistan is working actively on a plan to build new water reservoirs to enhance electricity production and improve irrigation water supply in a judicious manner. The government had allocated few billion rupees in the budget for initial work such as land acquisition and technical survey. However, it depends heavily on international donors for financing construction of big dams.
Pakistan has identified at least seven big dams and set a specific target for completion. Each identified dam requires $6 billion to $7 billion. The World Bank being a consistent source for funding of the development projects Pakistan accords it the first priority for seeking funds for mega dams.
The economic team will present Pakistan's achievements on economic front during the last five years besides, giving an outlook for the future. It will include steps taken for poverty reduction and reforms implementation.
The team will also apprise the World Bank about Pakistan's economic growth and its need to maintain the current pace. Pakistan has achieved over 7 percent growth rates. It faces a challenge of maintaining the current pace to achieve the future target.
The team will also apprise the World Bank authorities about its financing need as well as growing energy demand. It will also apprise the World Bank about rehabilitation and construction work done so far in October 8, 2005 deadly earthquake and seek support for early maturity of the donors and other countries pledges. It will be the first face-to-face meeting of Pak high-level economic manager with the new World Bank chief Robert Zoellick.