The federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, chaired the second follow-up meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Foreign Funded Projects (NCC-FFP) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs today to review the Foreign-Funded Balochistan Sector projects.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (DCPC), the Chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), the Chairman of the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA), the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), representatives of the Finance Division and the Planning Commission, and CEOs and Managing Directors of all the implementing agencies.
The Minister for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, welcomed the attendees and highlighted that the projects in Balochistan are a key driver for socio-economic development, provide access to jobs markets, and increase economic mobility and connectivity for poverty alleviation.
He briefed the committee on the background and purpose of the meeting and tabled the problematic and moderately satisfactory projects and issues thereof.
Minister Sadiq also apprised the committee that Economic Affairs Division (EAD) is managing an ongoing portfolio of $34.8 billion worth of foreign-funded projects from various sectors of the economy, and $13.5 billion (39 percent) of the total portfolio is considered problematic. The share of Balochistan’s projects is $1.1 billion, of which $0.848 billion has been rated as problematic.
Minister Sadiq emphasized the urgent need to address the issues of these problematic projects, and especially those that have been massively delayed to quicken disbursements and progress. He also stressed that the focal ministries implementing agencies should set deliverables with timelines for better monitoring and to prevent time and cost over-runs.
Furthermore, the minister underscored the importance of regular follow-up weekly meetings by the focal ministries with executing agencies and stakeholders for due monitoring and the prompt resolution of issues.
