Foreign aid : MDTF doles out $31m for five projects

For five development projects in FATA.

Approximately $31 million has been disbursed from $49.95 million committed by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) for five development projects in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). A World Bank delegation, led by Country Director Rachid bin Masoud, called on FATA Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Muhammad Azam Khan at the FATA Secretariat on Monday, according to a handout. At the review of the MDTF portfolio for the region, Masoud informed Khan 69% of the allocation has already been disbursed. These five projects are Governance Support Project, Economic Revitalization of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata (ERKF), FATA Emergency Roads Recovery Project, FATA Urban Centers Project, and FATA Rural Livelihood and Community Infrastructure Project (FATA RLCIP). Under the RLCIP, 102 infrastructure schemes have been completed, the ownership and management of which have been transferred to local communities, shared the delegation. The ERKF project has also approved grants for 1,253 SMEs (371 in Fata). Of these, 243 grants valued at $2.21 million have already been disbursed in Fata.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2014.