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Islamabad wants $55 billion assistance from Friends of Pakistan
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by hussain | November 16, 2008 at 10:44 pm
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The cash-strapped Pakistan government is today proposing 45 development projects worth about $55 billion in a technical meeting of the Friends of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
The government has decided to present a proposal for 45 development projects with an estimated cost of $ 55 billion at the Friends of Pakistan (FoP) meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, The News has learnt.“This will be a technical meeting of the FoP and the proposal to be presented in the meeting contains projects relating to power, water and infrastructure,” an official source said. One of the projects would be an addition of the 4th tunnel to the Tarbela Powerhouse for generation of additional 500 MW of power. Besides, he added, assistance would be sought from the friendly countries for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha and Munda dams.
“The technical meeting will finalise the agenda and recommend schedule and venue for the ministerial meeting of the FoP,” he added. The official said that in the FoP ministerial meeting, to be held within a few weeks, the friendly countries would offer assistance for nearly four dozens projects in the wake of Pakistan’s agreement with the IMF for $7.6 billion assistance.
“A package containing 45 projects has been prepared under the supervision of the Planning Commission with the approval of the prime minister for the FoP technical meeting,” he said. “The Pakistani technical team will invite the friendly countries to set up four independent power projects,” the official said. “Investment will also be sought for linking the Gwadar Port to Chaman, Khunjrab, Torkham, Taftan and Lahore through highways as part of the national corridor and laying of railway track from Havelian to Khunjrab,” he disclosed.
The official said a project for dualisation of the railway track from Lodhran to Peshawar and procurement of new locomotives and railway coaches would also be put before the friendly countries.
“Moreover, development projects of provincial governments will also be presented in the FoP technical meeting to seek assistance for their implementation,” he said. The official said the technical meeting would prepare a framework for the implementation of the projects for which the friendly countries would offer assistance. He said the technical meeting would be attended by delegates from the friendly countries, including China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Japan, Kuwait and Qatar, which had attended New York meeting of the FoP in September.
“The FoP group will make efforts to arrange financial assistance for Pakistan from the international financial institutions. The group will also propose steps to overcome the economic crisis facing the country because of its role in the war on terror. It will also chalk out proposals to arrange economic assistance for Pakistan from the UN, G7 and Europe,” he said.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 09:14 on March 24th, 2009
PAKISTAN SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN CASH MONEY FOR DEVELOPEMENT ASISTANCE BUT ALL FRIENDS OF PAKISTAN COUNTRIES SHOULD ADOPT A PROVINCE AND REGION WITHIN PROVINCE- ALMOST TEN IN NUMBERS AND MAKE A PLANE TO DEVELOP THAT REGION AS PER THE STANDARD OF INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. BULD THE INFRASTRUCTURE, CREATE INVESTMENT OPPRTUNITIES FOR BIG AND SMALL BUSINESSES. CREATE A FUND/ FORUM TO LOOK AFTER THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTLY TO AVOID THE WASTAGE AND CORUUPTION. AND WE HOPE THE A LOT OF JOBS WILL BE CREATED BY THIS WAY AND A REAL POVERTY ERADICATION WILL BE WITNESS BY ALL OF US. OTHER WISE CASH FLOW TO ISLAMABAD WILL DO NOTHING BUT WILL MAKE FEW RICH RULERS MORE RICH TO COMPETE THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. A detail of the following article of mine is to guide.----------------------------------------------------- FIVE REGIONAL CITIES OF PAKISTAN should be upgraded with in the provinces in the country. Regional cities of Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, Gawadar/ Qalat in Balouchistan, Sukkar/ Larkana in Upper Sind, Jehlam/ Rawalpindi and Multan in Punjab province. These regional cities have been ignored by the federal and provincial governments although these cities have their own history, culture and languages.Dera Ismail Khan in south of Pakhtun khwa/MWFP is under seige, Multan/DG Khan in south of Punjab is next target of religious extremists,Sukkar/ Larkana is being rule by criminals, Gawadar/ Qalat is trouble some. The people of these regions have to travel to provincial capitals for every small issue and requirement of the daily life which should be provided in nearby cities. A good number of population travel to big cities for their survival to earn livelihood as the local feudal own majority land and keep the common man as their slaves. Creation of regional government and upgrading of the regional cities will save a lot of money and time of the poor people of these regions. Circuit benches of the High Courts are already working in these areas and only requirement is the additional staff of different departments involved in additional work at the provincial capitals. The concern authorities should immediately consider to upgrade the regional cities. And immediate attention should be given upgrade/build the airports,TV station, civic center, libraries,hospitals, educational institutes and investment opportunities for Pakistanis living abroad and foreign firms to create jobs in the area as majority population in rural Pakistan do not have enough resources to survive. It’s remind me the condition of pre Islamic revolution of Iran in Shah time when the rural Iran was ignored and the capital Tehran was developed in a way to call it Paris of Middle East with modern life style. Couple of other big cities like Isfahan and Caspian sea was taken care of because of foreign tourists but rural area was ruled by cruel police and intelligence. Then what happen rural population supported the Islamic revolution and moved to Tehran and other big cities later on. The new government after revolution developed, built and upgraded the rural areas of Iran accordingly. A fund to upgrade/build these regional cities in Pakistan should be established by public and private sector and Pakistani government, our foreign friends and Pakistanis living abroad may be asked to participate in this development mission in the country..KHWAJA AFTAB ALI,( former secretary, Iranian embassy, Saudi Arabia,1979-88) Advocate High Court & I.P. Attorney-first & the only Pakistani lawyer who earned Intellectual Property laws scholarship in USA,presently residing in Florida, USA.all_languages@hotmail.com
at 04:14 on June 19th, 2009
Who says there is no feudal in Pakistan. Rural Pakistan is control by the feudals, even in urban areas one can see the people who work hard and other who exploit the situation and make money in the name of Muslim saints or family lands. Our ruling class of so called politicians is from feudals and then industrialist follow them for power in authoritarian society. Law making body-the Majlish Shora, parliament -the senate , national assembly, provincial assembly and district council , every where the members are feudals, indusrialists, drug barons and /or Rtd. corrupt police officers with few Rtd, army officers as well. The writer of the this article and a leading scholar Dr. Aisha Siddiqa is also from feudal class with extra ordinary intelligence. I agree with some people that one should do some thing instead of suggestions. I have done some thing by leaving my home land as it’s hopeless there; unless there is rule of law not the law of ruler and we should follow the rule accordingly. Very simple law of inheritance can change our country’s future. What ever law we follow, Islamic or British- Muslim personal law, the property should be divided accordingly after the death of a person in a reasonable time but what happen in our country- this is the basic problem. If division of property is done by the law, there will be no feudal and if there is no feudal: the country will flourish. See rest of the world specially the developed world where majority people from under developed countries want to come. All the best for the rest of the people all over the world. KHWAJA AFTAB ALI, Advocate & I.P. Attorney in Pakistan, presently living in Florida, USA
at 17:21 on July 26th, 2009
PAKISTAN SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN CASH MONEY FOR DEVELOPEMENT ASISTANCE BUT ALL FRIENDS OF PAKISTAN COUNTRIES SHOULD ADOPT A PROVINCE AND REGION WITHIN PROVINCE- ALMOST TEN IN NUMBERS AND MAKE A PLANE TO DEVELOP THAT REGION AS PER INTERNATIONAL STANDARD . BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE, CREATE INVESTMENT OPPRTUNITIES FOR BIG AND SMALL BUSINESSES. CREATE A FUND/ FORUM TO LOOK AFTER THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTLY TO AVOID THE WASTAGE AND CORUUPTION. AND WE HOPE THE A LOT OF JOBS WILL BE CREATED BY THIS WAY AND A REAL POVERTY ERADICATION WILL BE WITNESS BY ALL OF US. OTHER WISE CASH FLOW TO ISLAMABAD WILL DO NOTHING BUT WILL MAKE FEW RICH RULERS MORE RICH TO COMPETE THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. A detail of the following article of mine is to guide.----------------------------------------------------- FIVE REGIONAL CITIES OF PAKISTAN should be upgraded with in the provinces in the country. Regional cities of Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, Gawadar/ Qalat in Balouchistan, Sukkar/ Larkana in Upper Sind, Jehlam/ Rawalpindi and Multan in Punjab province. These regional cities have been ignored by the federal and provincial governments although these cities have their own history, culture and languages.Dera Ismail Khan in south of Pakhtun khwa/MWFP is under seige, Multan/DG Khan in south of Punjab is next target of religious extremists,Sukkar/ Larkana is being rule by criminals, Gawadar/ Qalat is trouble some. The people of these regions have to travel to provincial capitals for every small issue and requirement of the daily life which should be provided in nearby cities. A good number of population travel to big cities for their survival to earn livelihood as the local feudal own majority land and keep the common man as their slaves. Creation of regional government and upgrading of the regional cities will save a lot of money and time of the poor people of these regions. Circuit benches of the High Courts are already working in these areas and only requirement is the additional staff of different departments involved in additional work at the provincial capitals. The concern authorities should immediately consider to upgrade the regional cities. And immediate attention should be given upgrade/build the airports,TV station, civic center, libraries,hospitals, educational institutes and investment opportunities for Pakistanis living abroad and foreign firms to create jobs in the area as majority population in rural Pakistan do not have enough resources to survive. It’s remind me the condition of pre Islamic revolution of Iran in Shah time when the rural Iran was ignored and the capital Tehran was developed in a way to call it Paris of Middle East with modern life style. Couple of other big cities like Isfahan and Caspian sea was taken care of because of foreign tourists but rural area was ruled by cruel police and intelligence. Then what happen rural population supported the Islamic revolution and moved to Tehran and other big cities later on. The new government after revolution developed, built and upgraded the rural areas of Iran accordingly. A fund to upgrade/build these regional cities in Pakistan should be established by public and private sector and Pakistani government, our foreign friends and Pakistanis living abroad may be asked to participate in this development mission in the country..KHWAJA AFTAB ALI,( former secretary, Iranian embassy, Saudi Arabia,1979-88) Advocate High Court & I.P. Attorney-first & the only Pakistani lawyer who earned Intellectual Property laws scholarship in USA,presently residing in Florida, USA. all_languages@hotmail.com