Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) Chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is in the final stages to complete the transaction structuring and advisory services for a mega infrastructure development at the Karachi Port. ADB is now in discussion with the Government of Sindh and its economic management team to identify rural based economic growth projects to augment and strengthen the mega infrastructure development to be undertaken at Karachi Port, he said while presiding over a meeting with ADB Principal Public Management Specialist Yesim Elhan at his office. ADB team visited SBI in order to formulate its framework for 2014 and to identify vital infrastructure and development projects based on the rural economy for which the bank will provide project development, transaction advisory and transaction structuring services in the Public Private Partnership mode. SBI Chairman highlighted various projects based on the rural economy which have been conceived by the Government of Sindh. The ADB team showed great interest in these projects which carry immense importance in terms of rural growth and economic uplift.
The ADB team will revert to SBI to develop these projects under PPP mode. On the occasion, the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF) CEO gave a briefing about the SEDF. He said in SEDF Small and Medium Enterprises are given subsidy on loan by banks for their projects, where the KIBOR part of the loan is paid by the government, which has helped stimulate the micro economy.
“Sindh Government is also enthusiastically pursuing Khairpur Special Economic Zone for supporting the local industries especially dates processing, storage and packaging, which is the main crop of Khairpur. Technical training on modern lines, research areas and financial frameworks are the areas where ADB assistance is a must,” he said. The ADB team highly appreciated the efforts being taken by the government for improvement in development process and assured ADB’s further assistance and continued support to the cause of Sindh.