ZAHEER ABBASI

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved the restoration of 11 revoked petroleum exploration licenses on the recommendation of the Petroleum Division and exploration activities will start in these 11 blocks.

The meeting of the federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday was presented by the Ministry of Planning and Development Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report in the context of 2022 floods.

The Ministry of Planning informed the meeting that the PDNA report has been prepared in collaboration with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, all provincial governments, the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, civil society, academia, and NGOs.

The meeting was informed that under this assessment, the damage was caused by floods in 94 districts, especially to 17 major sectors of the economy, including health, agriculture, industry, infrastructure, communication, etc.

The meeting was told that according to the report, Sindh province was the most affected by the flood and the agriculture sector was badly affected.

The meeting was informed that the PDNA will support medium- to long-term planning to rebuild flood-affected areas in a climate-resilient manner.

The cabinet meeting was also informed that a Resilient, Recovery Renovation and Rehabilitation Plan is being prepared in the context of the PDNA and in this regard consultation is being done with all concerned Federal Ministries/Divisions and all provincial governments.

The prime minister appreciated the performance of the Federal Ministry of Planning for setting up the PDNA and directed to complete the Resilient, Recovery, Renovation and Rehabilitation Plan as soon as possible. He directed that the opinion of all provinces and other stakeholders must be taken in this regard.

The Cabinet approved the signing of the transit-trade agreement between Pakistan and Tajikistan on the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce.

The agreement is likely to be signed during the expected visit of the President of Tajikistan.

The Federal Cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meetings of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) held on 29-11-2022 and 02-12-2022.

The Federal Cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee for the Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) held on 01-12-2022.