PAK: IPDF says $100 bn needed for infra related projects

Islamabad: Pakistan needs around $100 billion for meeting infrastructure-related challenges, said Ijaz Ahmed Khan, CEO of Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF), an agency working under Finance Ministry to look for public-private partnership in infrastructure development.

The country needs $22 billion for multipurpose water reservoirs, $20 billion for throw forward of infrastructure projects, $10 billion for maintenance of available resources, $18 billion for energy projects, $16 billion for transport and communication, $4 billion for urban mass transit (Karachi and Lahore metro), $2.5 billion for municipal services and $4 to 5 billion for health and education, physical planning etc, he said.

He was speaking at a workshop on public-private partnership (PPP) and municipal services, organised by IPDF here on Monday. The World Bank infrastructure specialist, Mihaly Kopanyi, said that Pakistan would have to spend 5 to 10 billion dollars to improve supply of drinking water, sanitation and solid waste management in cities. 'This is a huge amount, and the government can manage it to a large extent by involving private sector in the development projects,' he added.

'Our bank is ready to provide financing, but it will be the private sector investment, which will bail out the government to give better services in urban centers.' He said that the WB was working with Pakistani authorities to devise institutional mechanism to improve infrastructure in five major urban centres of Punjab including Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, with a financial package of $300 million. The institutional mechanism will be put in place by September, 2008.

He said that on the basis of his research done in selected districts of Punjab no reliable data was available to analyse the provision of water, sanitation and solid waste management standards. He criticised the PC-1 exercise, saying that it did not provide complete details about the project.

Ghafoor Mirza, adviser to ministry of finance, said that the government realised the need to fill gaps between the demand and supply in infrastructure projects by involving the private sector.

He said that the government had established IPDF to develop a comprehensive public-private partnership (PPP) program, an important economic reform policy tool, for generating growth and closing gaps between the supply and demand of infrastructure requirements of the country. The main focus of the program is to financially assist and promote sustainable and viable projects by using the potential market forces that deliver critical goods and services to the people at affordable prices, he added.

Earlier, the World Bank's Operations Advisor, Said Al-Hasby, highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships as an integral reform policy tool to fund future infrastructure investment in the country.