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ADB, Britain provide 270 mln USD to Pakistan for motorway project

Xinhua, October 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan agreement of 270 million U.S. dollars with the government of Pakistan on Thursday to fund the section of a motorway in the country's eastern Punjab province, officials said.

The four-lane M-4 motorway, connecting two major towns of Gojra and Shorkot, will boost the flow of trade and travel while reducing transportation cost and time from Pakistan's textile producing hub Faisalabad towards Multan, which is the major trade center in southern Punjab, the ADB said.

The M-4 motorway will provide a shorter and direct connection between central Punjab and port cities of Karachi and Gwadar. The motorway will open up new opportunities for the residents of several major cities including Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Shorkot by providing faster access to bigger markets.

The motorway is also a step towards positioning Pakistan to act as a transit artery for goods moving between the port city of Karachi in the south to Torkham on the northern border with Afghanistan via the country's major business and population centers.

The 1,800-km route will also eventually link Pakistan's ports with the land-locked regions of Central Asia, and will allow Pakistan to reap dividends of its active membership in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program.

The M-4 motorway project, expected to be completed by November 2019, will support the Pakistan-owned National Highway Authority (NHA) to improve road management, maintenance and procurement capacity. It will also assist the NHA to enhance road safety through training, capacity development and by improving operational frameworks.

Werner E. Liepach, ADB's Country Director for Pakistan and Muhammad Saleem Sethi, Secretary of Economic Affairs Division (EAD) of Pakistan signed the agreement, an ADB statement said.

The statement said ADB and the Department for International Development (DFID) of Britain have joined hands to assist Pakistan to improve the country's vital north-south road network to promote economic growth, job creation and regional connectivity.

The M-4 motorway is part of the investments to upgrade and decongest the country's overburdened transport infrastructure.

"Once complete, the project will not only facilitate faster and more efficient transportation of goods and people across Pakistan's key business centers, it will also enable the National Highway Authority to build and maintain quality roads and ensure better road safety," said Liepach. Enditem