Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, represented the country at the World Bank Group meeting on Human Capital Ministerial Conclave held virtually this afternoon.
The theme of the meeting was Creating Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Recovery of Economy after Pandemic.
The spring meeting includes Ministers and government officials from 80 countries to share views/narratives that will improve the human capital of the world after the pandemic.
In his remarks, the Minister stated that Pakistan is one of the first “Early Adopters of Human Capital Project.” He highlighted the country’s initial response to combat the COVID-19 crisis remained strong and robust, and well-recognized by the international community.
He said that the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan put up an economic stimulus package of USD 8 billion, which helped to save lives and livelihoods, and as a result, our economy contracted by only 0.4 percent as compared to a global contraction of 3.5 percent.
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While highlighting the GoP’s climate initiatives, he said that the government had launched 10-Billion Tree Tsunami Project, Eco-system Restoration Initiatives, Recharge Pakistan, and the Clean and Green Pakistan Movement to curb climate change & its environmental impacts.
The Minister also underlined the comprehensive poverty alleviation program Ehsaas, which is another major social protection plan of the incumbent government to protect the vulnerable segments from the economic shocks of the pandemic.
He said that Ehsaas Program also included Tahafaz, Kamyab Jawan, Livelihoods interventions for poor farmers and women, and graduate programs to support youth and agricultural sector through micro-financing and micro-credits.
At the conclusion, the Minister called for enhanced support of the international community to fight against the socioeconomic challenges in a time of the pandemic.
He said that additional financial resources would help to create fiscal space to invest more in human capital.
