Islamic Development to provide $475m to finance M-6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has signed three financing agreements worth about $603m with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to finance the M-6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway Project, poverty reduction and education projects.

The agreements were formalised in Islamabad following high-level talks between Pakistan’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Ahad Khan Cheema, and an IsDB delegation, led by the Vice President of IsDB, Dr Rami Ahmad.

Under the agreement, the IsDB will provide $475m to finance the M-6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, a key section of the planned Peshawar-Karachi motorway corridor, which is intended to improve connectivity across the country.

Another agreement covers the Poverty Graduation of Extremely Poor and Flood Affected Households (PGEP) project, a program designed to help ultra-poor families move towards sustainable livelihoods. The initiative has a total cost of $134.2m, with the IsDB contributing $118.4m.

The project will be implemented across 25 districts, including areas identified through Pakistan’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI 2024) and five districts badly affected by flooding in 2022 and 2025. Officials say it aims to support 160,866 households and generate around 100,000 jobs through integrated asset transfers, interest-free loans, skills development, rainwater harvesting, climate-smart agriculture, and business service providers’ interventions.

Pakistan has also secured $10m in IsDB funding for an education project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, aimed at returning around 60,000 out-of-school children to classrooms and providing training for 4,000 teachers.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Rami Ahmad, the Vice President of IsDB, said that the IsDB  was keen to expand cooperation with Pakistan in areas of mutual interest.

The Minister for Economic Affairs acknowledged and appreciated the continued IsDB support for Pakistan.