Islamabad, Pakistan, 7-8 December 2022 - A mission from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has met with H.E. Mr. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and IsDB Governor for Pakistan; H.E. Ms. Anita Turab, Joint Secretary IsDB Division, and IsDB Alternate Governor for Pakistan, as well as H.E. Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and IsDB Executive Director.

The message of IsDB President, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, was conveyed by Mr. Hammad Hundal, Officer in Charge of IsDB Group Regional Hub Turkiye, expressing heartfelt sympathies and support of IsDB Group to the Government and people of Pakistan for the devastating effects of the unprecedented flooding that took place over the June-August period in 2022.

The meeting then focused on the Medium-term Country Engagement Framework for the country as well as the 2023-25 Work Program.

H.E. Dr. Niaz shared the latest actions by Pakistan’s Government and development partners as stated in the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Report and invited IsDB to attend the upcoming international stakeholder event where reconstruction efforts will be jointly discussed between the Government of Pakistan and its development partners.

In the context of the larger country dialogue and work programming, the IsDB Mission held technical meetings with the Governor’s office, line ministries and provincial authorities to present the IsDB’s Realigned Strategy and priorities, the recently approved IsDB Group Food Support and Resilience Program (FSRP).

Opportunities for collaboration under Resilience and Post-Disaster Support (RPDS) framework for the country were also raised during the meeting.  

As the country is experiencing immediate impacts of climate change where the vulnerable population are most in need of support, the Economic Affairs Department (EAD) and IsDB expressed firm commitment to continuing discussions to develop an intervention that aims to maximize impact.

The emerging areas of focus are:

1. Energy security with requests to consider investing further in green energy generation and power transmission, as well as innovative hybrid solar-hydro power generation projects;
2. (ii) Food Security and productivity enhancement, whereby support would be channeled under the FSRP through integrated interventions covering upstream and downstream agriculture interventions that also focus on livelihood betterment and food systems strengthening;
3. Inclusive Human Capital interventions, through support to health systems strengthening, Polio Eradication support, Out of School Children and Vocational Skills support,
4. Resilience building through flood protection, water resource management, etc.

The Government of Pakistan appreciated IsDB’s support for important projects such as the multipurpose Mohmand Dam which was approved by the Bank in 2021, and the COVID-19 Vaccine Support project which was approved and disbursed in record time.

The mission also presented success stories from other Member Countries in the sector of hybrid power generation projects, to the Governor’s Office and to Lt. Gen. Sajjad Ghani, Chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority.

Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary EAD, has reaffirmed the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to a strong partnership with IsDB Group and has requested the IsDB to continue working along the four priority areas discussed during the mission, as well as identifying cooperation opportunities between Pakistan and other IsDB Member Countries.

Mr. Hammad Hundal reiterated IsDB’s readiness to further support Pakistan, one of its founding Members, in various sectors and highlighted that the work program and engagement framework will be for the 2022-25 period until a new Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) is developed based on the country’s readiness.

The two sides agreed to continue the discussions with the government and sister development institutions to determine the exact pipeline of projects that would be included in the 2022-2025 pipeline.

The IsDB mission also comprised Dr. Ishthiaq Akbar, Country Operations Manager (COM); Oussema Trigui, Operations Team Leader (OTL); Verdi Yusuf, OTL; Cem Özenen Project Management Specialist (PMS); Tolga Yakar, PMS; and Muhammad Ali Yazdani, Field Representative.