The Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives has reconstituted a high-powered advisory committee that will guide the Ministry in policy formulation and implementation.
Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal will be the chairperson of the 31-member advisory committee. The members of the committee consist of government officials, parliamentarians, leading economic experts, businessmen, and educationists from home and abroad.
The committee will work as a strategic think tank on policy issues to promote public and private interface and develop a participatory approach in decision-making. It will help to generate and build consensus on policies and strategies of the Planning Commission. The committee will also provide input and get feedback from non-government stakeholders to improve the policies and performance of the ministry.
Secretary Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Planning Commission Saleem Mandviwalla, and Chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Khalid Magsi will be part of the group.
Other prominent members include President FPCCI Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President OICCI Arif Habib, Chairman Dawood Hercules Corp. Inamur Rehman, Executive Director Akhuwat Dr Amjad Saqib, CEO SMEDA Hashim Raza, Vice Chancellor UAF Dr Rana Iqrar, Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Cambridge University Dr Kamal Munir.
The federal secretaries of various federal ministries and divisions will also be invited to the committee meetings as and when needed. The committee will meet once in each quarter to review the progress in development policy formulation and implementation.
The reconstitution of the Advisory Committee is the latest among a host of steps to involve the stakeholders in the policy-making process.
Last week, the Champions of Reform project was launched to involve Pakistani experts at home and abroad to voluntarily contribute to the development process, including in the technical evaluation and pre-approval scrutiny of all the development projects of the Public Sector Development Program.
As part of the Turnaround Pakistan plan, the Planning Ministry will soon unveil a comprehensive long-term development strategy based on 5Es, including exports, e-Pakistan, equity, energy, and environment.
The ministry will also soon release the Pakistan Outlook 2035 report, which seeks to set the target for the country in multiple sectors of the economy and identify policy choices for the policymakers to multiply the socio-economic development of the country. The study will assess long-term challenges in light of the prevailing economic crisis and changing global dynamics.
