PM Shehbaz hails WB for Pakistan's progress, eyes $20bn investment

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the government is taking effective measures to achieve maximum benefits from the World Bank’s development investment.

The prime minister passed these remarks in a meeting with a World Bank delegation led by Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde that called on him in Islamabad. PM Shehbaz  lauded the World Bank’s ‘key’ role as an important development partner in Pakistan’s progress.

The prime minister hoped that the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework would bring more than $20 billion in development investment to Pakistan, said a press statement issued here.

PM Shehbaz also appreciated the World Bank’s assistance to the victims of 2022 floods in Pakistan that had impacted millions of people, destroying livelihoods and properties.

In her remarks, World Bank Managing Director Anna Bjerde said that the World Bank valued its historic partnership with the Government of Pakistan for the development and prosperity of its people.

She also expressed special gratitude to Prime Minister Shehbaz for his effective role in strengthening the partnership and implementing the Country Partnership Program.

Also appreciating Pakistan’s recent exemplary economic performance and stability, she said that through its positive actions for macroeconomic stability, Pakistan had achieved the impossible.

She said that the World Bank looked forward to continued cooperation to achieve the positive outcomes of the Country Partnership Framework.

The managing director viewed that the prime minister’s leadership, his commitment to the uplift of the Pakistani people, policy continuity for sustainable and inclusive growth, and efforts to engage all stakeholders at the political level, made Pakistan a model for the World Bank’s partnership framework in other countries.

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She said that due to the prime minister’s excellent and effective leadership, the Country Partnership Framework was being referred to globally as the “Pakistan Model”.

She expressed the hope that Prime Minister Shehbaz’s focus on practical actions would lead this partnership framework to success.

The meeting was also attended by World Bank’s Country Director for Pakistan Najy Benhassine, as well as federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, and Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Prime Minister’s Advisor Dr. Tauqir Shah, Senator Sherry Rehman, Member of National Assembly Dr. Nafisa Shah, and other senior officials.