ADB encouraged by Pakistan’s progress in MESP
By Asad Cheema

Islamabad—Mr. Xiaoyu Zhao Vice President of Asian Development Bank has said that the Bank was encouraged by the progress made by the government of Pakistan in its macro economic stability programme which he said would further help in boosting economic assistance to the country. He said this when a delegation of the Asian Development Bank led by him called on the President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidency on Friday.
He said that the ADB was part of Pakistan's development programme and was committed to work with it to bring about positive changes for the benefit of the people of Pakistan.
The other members of the delegation Mr. Nianshan Zhang, Advisor to Vice President ADB, Mr. Juan Miranda, DG Central West Asia Depart, Mr. Sean M. O'Sullivan, DDG, Central West Asia, Mr. Rune Stroem, Country Director and Mr. Saad Paracha, Program Officer, Pak Resident Mission were also persent.
M. Salman Faruqi, Secretary General to the President, Sardar Asef Ahmed Ali, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Mrs. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for EAD, Mr. Shakil Durrani, Chairman WAPDA, Mr. Farrakh Qayyum, Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Mr. Shahid Rafi, Secretary Water & Power, Mr. Sibtain Fazl Haleem, Secretary Health, Mr. Farhatullah Babar, Spokesman of the President, Mr. Muhammad Shahzad Arbab, Additional Secretary and Mr. Zafar Hasan Raza, Joint Secretary Economic Affairs also participated in the meeting.
The President thanked ADB Vice President for continued support of the Bank by providing short term and medium term assistance to the country through its various programmes. The President remarked with one of the areas which needed special attention and in which the Bank could be a great assistance was setting up of a Research centers for the optimum utilization of irrigation water and development of hybrid seed of cotton, rice and sugarcane which were not only highly yielding but also disease resistant.
The President said that the government of Pakistan was already engaged with the China in this matter and that he planned to visit China every three months to monitor progress on the collaborative projects between the two countries in these areas.
The President also drew the attention of the ADB delegation towards the need for building agricultural storage capacity and oil storage capacity in Pakistan through public private partnership model in which the private entrepreneur is encouraged to invest in building the storage capacity while the government rent the storage capacity on terms for mutual benefit.
The Vice President of the ADB showed keen interest in the idea and said that the Banks team in Pakistan will give it a serious thought. He said that there was distinct possibility of the increasing economic assistance to Pakistan due to the success it had achieved in the macro economic stability programme.
The President also suggested that the Bank should also consider assistance in the development of a navigation project to connect Karachi with Kalabagh for cheap transportation of goods from the Port in Karachi to the north. Mr. Xiaoyu Zhao said that he looked forward to continued and enhanced cooperation with the government of Pakistan and expressed the confidence that Pakistan's economy will grow faster in the days to come.