ISLAMABAD, Mar 7 (APP): Speakers at a workshop here on Thursday highlighted the importance of public investment to provide an enabling environment to the private sector and achieving socio-economic objectives.
The workshop on Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA), Climate-PIMA & Climate Gender Tagging of Development Budget was organized by the Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives in collaboration with the Revenue Mobilisation, Investment & Trade (REMIT).
According to Planning Ministry news release, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan (DCPC) chaired the workshop, which was attended by Project Director, REMIT Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and other senior officials of the ministry.
Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary Planning Ministry highlighted the importance of public investment in policy planning and stressed that it was an important instrument for providing an enabling environment for private investment and achieving socio-economic objectives.
He said,”The investment creates infrastructure and leverages the potential of the economy for creation of much needed social goods.”
The Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of Pakistan said that the public investment’s key objectives were to efficiently allocate scarce resources against competing demands for its optimal utilization.
He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) carried out an assessment of the existing mechanism of the public investment assessing institutional design and its effectiveness. Three areas of planning, allocation and implementation of public investment were evaluated.
He said the IMF Mission also undertook Climate PIMA and the fund identified future steps to improve public investment infrastructure in Pakistan, including climate-oriented initiatives, urban planning and construction climate-related risks and impacts.
Chief (G&E), Shahid Zia Cheem highlighted key aspects of the IMF Technical Assistance Report which included to ensure coordination and alignment between national goals and strategies, individual investment projects including SOEs and reduce government footprint by improving competition in some economic infrastructure markets through privatization.
“The report also includes aspects to minimize leakages in procurement process; adopt and progressively convert to the use of e-procurement for development & non-development expenditure and the reassessment and affordability of PSDP to cap the throw-forward,” he added.
He said,”Pakistan is one of the highest disaster risk prone countries in the world and ranked as fifth most climate-vulnerable.”
He said keeping in view the upcoming challenges, Handbook on Climate Risk Screening in Policy Planning Process had been approved by Planning Commission in its meeting held on February 27, along-with updated Manual for Development Projects including climate proof PC’s proformas to make the infrastructure climate resilient, adaption and ensure climate mitigation assessment to combat climate related crises.
For the next stage, he added, climate/ gender tagging of the development budget would be carried out.
Dr Raja M. Ali Saleem, ADB Consultant, gave a presentation on climate/ gender tagging of development budget and discussed in detail the technical aspects of the climate/gender tagging framework.