The Federal Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and the President World Bank Group, Dr. Jim Yong Kim jointly chaired an interactive session on Economic Development and Inclusive Growth here in Islamabad today.

Members of the Cabinet, Secretaries of various Economic Ministries, Chief Secretaries of the Provinces, and three Vice Presidents of the World Bank participated in the dialogue.

Minister welcomed the visiting senior leadership of the World Bank and briefed the participants on the economic vision of the government. He apprised the participants of the policies pursued by the government in the last two and a half years, which had resulted in the turnaround of the economy. He said that having achieved macroeconomic stability, the government is now fully focused on economic growth which is, equitable, inclusive and sustainable. He acknowledged the support offered by the international institutions, especially the World Bank in achieving the objectives.

Appreciating the efforts of the Government, Dr. Kim said, “We highly value the efforts made by the Government of Pakistan to achieve macro-economic stability. We are here to be the part of your development process. Pakistan is important to us because it has a unique location and the excellent human and natural resource base. There is a great potential in Pakistan and we support the country and desire to invest in the people of this country not only for their benefit but for the benefit of the whole region. We desire to invest in health and education of the people and we strongly believe that it will bring everyone on board to and participate in the development process". He reminded the participant of the Quaid-e-Azam's moto of Unity, Faith and Discipline and said that we could together achieve anything by adopting these values.

The Minister for Planning Development and Reforms briefed the participants on the government's growth strategy, which was based on the vision 2025. He stated that the growth strategy was a well though out plan, which is based on seven pillars. He stated that the country hoped to achieve the desired levels of economic growth, necessary to absorb the abundant human resource, by pursing the strategy.

Ms. Anusha Rehman Khan MoS IT, Ms. Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister for Health and Mr. Zahid Hamid, Minister for Climate Change, Mr. Haroon Akhtar Khan, SAPM on revenue and other participants also shared their views and ideas on accelerating the pace of economic development in Pakistan at a time when the global economy was faced with low levels of growth.

The Finance Minister thanked the President World Bank and the three Vice Presidents for undertaking a joint visit, which enabled the government to share ideas and strategies in greater detail. He hoped that the visit will enable the two development partners to further enhance mutual cooperation.