Countries and Regions

	Table of Contents
p. 9 of 25 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment II. Country Operational Strategy A. The COS B Country Operational Framework C. Progress in COS Implementation D. Partnership Agreement on Poverty Reduction (PAPR) III. Sector Strategies IV. Regional Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work Program IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Pakistan : II. Country Operational Strategy

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B. Country Operational Framework (1999-2000)

38. ADB operations in Pakistan are currently guided by the Country Operational Framework (COF, 1999-2000), of March 1999¹⁵. The COF was formulated within the changed economic circumstances faced by Pakistan, following the nuclear tests in May 1998. Due to the economic crisis a sharper focus was required for ADB's operations, and the following aims were adopted: (i) improving economic efficiency and export competitiveness; (ii) human and social development, and (iii) governance and institutional strengthening. It also provides the basis for the ADB's sector focus, intersectoral linkages and concerns for poverty reduction and improved environmental management¹⁶. Overall priority will be placed on achieving governance reforms, which are a necessary precondition for improving absorptive capacity and for sustained development in Pakistan.

39. Based on the COF, the ADB's operational focus is on (i) undertaking a series of studies to provide a clear strategy for ADB's long-term involvement; (ii) broadening and deepening portfolio management practices to improve governance; (iii) strengthening poverty impacts of the ADB's assistance and encouraging structural reforms; and (iv) continuing to support province-based interventions focused on reducing poverty, building provincial capacity, and widening civil society involvement in social and economic development. Human development issues remain a major focus to ensure a positive impact on equity and long-run economic growth, and that environmental management will continue to be emphasized as a cross-cutting issue, given that the increasingly scarce natural resources and growing levels of pollution will impair sustainable growth and human welfare. However, in view of ongoing partial sanctions, ADB operations only focus on basic human needs and those under the IMF's framework of assistance (See also para.8 above)¹⁷.

40. The COF links poverty reduction to a more equitable provision of social services under the SAP but also to agriculture (including rural jobs and microfinance), development of social infrastructure and reforms of the financial and industrial sectors (e.g., under the TEPI) that will encourage job creation in the private sector. Greater emphasis is also being placed on improving governance (see paras. 77-79). A new COS incorporating the experience of the COF and the ADB's Poverty Reduction Strategy will be prepared in 2000-2001.

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