ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar has said the COVID-19 pandemic had caused severe disruptions in the global economic system, stress on the health infrastructure and social distress.

The minister said this while addressing to the annual meeting of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) through a video link.

The minister appreciated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for successfully arranging the event during COVID-19 pandemic,said press release issued here on Thursday. "The impact is more pronounced in case of emerging markets and developing countries.

I wish an early end to the pandemic and recovery of the global economy," the minister said.

He said in this backdrop, the COVID-19 Crisis Response Facility of AIIB, which was announced to support economies of member countries was highly commendable.

The minister said that the AIIB should take lead in technological and IT related infrastructure in the short to medium term horizon particularly in sectors like education, health and ICT in post COVID time.

He also expressed hoped that AIIB would enhance climate financing and provision of primary physical infrastructure for cities, water and sanitation, rural connectivity with cities for developing countries.

The minister also mentioned that the development of basic infrastructure in countries within Asia and beyond had remained a priority for the bank.

Because of disruptions due to the Pandemic, fiscal space declined even further with rising domestic spending and exchange rate movements against the US dollar in the Asian countries,he added.

He said in this situation, the infrastructure financing could only be sustained by MDBs including AIIB; and by leveraging on PPP potential as we know that building a robust PPP regime remained a challenge for many countries.

"Similarly, South Asia is the least connected region in the world in terms of trade and tourism; this needs to remain a priority area as bank develops its corporate strategy", he added. In closing remarks, the minister expressed the hope that AIIB, being a relatively new MDB, should use this opportunity to provide innovative solutions to satisfy the clients’ needs and fulfill its mandate.