Germany pledges €109m for uplift

ISLAMABAD: Germany committed €109 million for economic development in Pakistan in addition to the on-going portfolio. The German side committed grants worth €84 million for financial and technical assistance projects along with a concessional loan worth € 25 million, an official statement said.

“The German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development committed new funding in three sectors - good governance, energy and sustainable economic development,” the statement added. “Fresh funds will be allocated to different projects, including the billion tree afforestation project, resilience against natural disasters, local governance, support to people affected by migration and displacement, promotion of renewable energies, social health protection and improvement of social and labour standards.”

The decision was taken during a visit of Pakistan’ delegation to Berlin last week. The Pakistani delegation was headed by Economic Affairs Division Secretary Noor Ahmed, and included representatives of the ministry of foreign affairs and the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The delegation of Germany was headed by Gisela Hammerschmidt, director for Asia at the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development and included participants from the German foreign office and others.