ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking the Asian Development Bank’s scaled-up financing for public-private partnerships, including the flagship $10 billion Karachi-Peshawar Main Railway Line (ML-1). An ADB delegation led by its Vice President for South, Central and West Asia, Yingming Yang, is currently in Islamabad as part of a follow-up to the $10bn Country Partnership Strategy 2026-30, approved in March this year. The delegation had separate engagements with Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday. Pakistan has already secured $2bn in financing from the Manila-based lending agency for the Karachi-Rohri section of the 1670-km ML-1 project, which is under implementation. Informed sources said the Economic Affairs Division was discussing additional facilities with the ADB, including innovative products such as guarantees and private partnerships. EAD spokesperson Sabina Qureshi did not respond to a request for comment. Seeks scaled-up financing for ML-1, public-private partnerships Acknowledging the CPS 2026-30 approvals by the ADB board, Mr Cheema discussed the government’s key development priorities including comprehensive fisca
