Transport corridor projects to create economic surplus:WB report

ISLAMABAD, Mar 22 (APP):A report launched by World Bank Group here on Thursday revealed that investment in transport corridors is expected to create large economic surpluses that could spread throughout the economy
and society and stressed the need for fair and equitable distribution of the investments benefits across the population.
The report Wider Economic Benefits of Transport Corridors in South Asia was jointly launched by World Bank Group, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and UKAID.
The report aimed at presenting past and recent case studies of corridor initiatives and make an assessment of corridor investment supported by international development organizations.
Highlighting the salient features of the report, Martin Melecky lead Economic, Wider Economic Benefits of Transport Corridors said that there are many corridor proposals but there were a dire need for bridging the gap between investment and financing capacity and stressed the need for adopting the holistic appraisal methodology.
The report urged for engaging private sector and considering disparities in regional development and stressed the need for civil society organization integration of the uses of transport corridors their designs and implementation.
It called upon the policy makers to ensure the private sector understanding about the corridor programme, take ownership and ensure that it was not overwhelmed by the risk .
The analysis suggested that so far the engagement of the private sector might have contributed to the development success of corridor projects.