Maryam offers AIIB partnership in Punjab development projects

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has invited the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to partner in development schemes in the province during a meeting with the bank’s senior officials.

AIIB Chief Investment Officer Konstantin Limitovskiy called on the chief minister and discussed matters of mutual interest as well as ways to strengthen institutional cooperation. AIIB Director General Xiaohong Yang was also present during the meeting.

Maryam Nawaz briefed the visiting delegation on ongoing and planned development initiatives in Punjab and offered the bank a partnership role in provincial projects. She said the Punjab government’s Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar programme had received appreciation at the 13th session of the Baku Urban Forum and added that more than 100,000 houses had been built within a year.

The chief minister also told the delegation that electric bus and e-bike programmes were being implemented successfully across Punjab. She said the provincial government was moving ahead quickly on environmental protection and public health improvement, adding that Punjab was advancing towards what she described as a new model of urban governance.

Water, sanitation and urban infrastructure

Maryam Nawaz appreciated AIIB’s cooperation in the signing of a memorandum of understanding aimed at improving water and sanitation infrastructure in Lahore. She said the agreements between the provincial government and the bank reflected AIIB’s confidence in Punjab’s development and reform agenda.

She said the Lahore Wastewater and Drainage Management Project, which includes a sewerage network and a wastewater treatment plant at Babu Sabu, would help improve the city’s drainage system. She also described AIIB’s support for the proposed surface water treatment plant at the BRBD Canal as valuable.

The chief minister said cooperation with the bank would help bring positive changes in urban culture in the province. The meeting focused on expanding collaboration between Punjab and the AIIB in infrastructure and public service-related sectors.