US, Pakistan Sign PEPA Worth Of $4.275 Bln For Socioeconomic Sector Development

Pakistan and United states (US) has signed Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA) worth of $4.275 billion for development of socioeconomic sector

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Oct, 2020 ) :Pakistan and United states (US) has signed Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA) worth of $4.275 billion for development of socioeconomic sector.

The volume of committed economic assistance under PEPA is $4.275 billion and out of this, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has disbursed USD 3.4 billion to Pakistan, said a press release issued by EAD here on Thursday.

The total number of ongoing projects are 65,encompassing socioeconomic sector like education, health, energy, agriculture, infrastructure/reconstruction, democracy and governance, economic growth and resilience. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar chaired the tripartite wrap up meeting on Portfolio Review of USAID projects in Pakistan at the economic affairs ministry.

The meeting was attended by officials of USAID and senior officers of the provincial governments and lined departments. The minister appreciated the grant extended by USAID worth of $ 32 million under PEPA to curtail the negative impact on the economy during the pandemic, which remained the highest grant assistance for combating the COVID-19 in Pakistan.

He laid stress to improve this portfolio by synergised the development agenda to maximize the utility of this aid programme in the country.

He said the government had simplified project planning, approval and execution process to expedite the process of project implementation. The minister also indicated that the government would review the policy framework for the grant assistance to make it demand-driven, public-centric and multi-sartorial to cultivate maximum benefits for communities.

He flagged the need of USAID economic grant for Benazir Income Support Programme, energy sector reforms, and western corridor to strengthen the portfolio. The minister also highlighted the role of the portfolio review sessions to surveil the status of projects, identify the bottlenecks and set the targets to expedite implementation process.

He underlined the need of regular reporting and coordination mechanism between donor and recipient to execute the project in an efficient manner. The minister directed to the heads of relevant departments to address the technical issues and safeguard the compliances to improve the performance of USAID projects.

At the conclusion of meeting, the mission director thanked the minister to chair the portfolio review sessions for timely implementation of the projects.

She hoped that the economic cooperation between the US and Pakistan would be continued in the future.