Pakistan’s population is growing and becoming more urbanized. By 2020, Karachi and Lahore will each have a population of well over 10 million people and several other cities will have a population of at least one million. These trends offer both risks and opportunities.

According to the new report, Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia's Infrastructure Gap, South Asian countries will have to invest as much as $2.5 trillion on transport, electricity, water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, telecommunications, and irrigation to bridge its infrastructure gap.