SATURDAY JUNE 18: Social sector: EU and Germany to provide over 300 million euros

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EU) and Germany will provide over 300 million euro to Pakistan for social sector from 2011-13. This was announced on Friday by Dirk Niebel, German Federal Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development.
This was stated by German Minister for Economic and Development, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs at a joint news conference after negotiations that led to signing of 'Multi-annual Indicative Program 2011-13' worth 225 million euro between Pakistan and EU.
Germany made additional commitment of 78 million euro for 2011-12 for priority education, health, governance and other priority areas. At the end of formal negotiations, the Summary Record of Negotiations on Development Co-operation held between Pakistan and Germany was signed by the Minister for Finance and the German Federal Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development.
For the period 2011-12, 78 million euro additional commitments were made by Germany for priority areas like education (1 million euro), energy (48.5 million euro), health (13 million euro) and governance (9 million euro) besides 6.5 million euro for co-operation outside priority areas. Germany also committed 12 million euro for the 'Multi Donor Trust Fund'.
The Multi-annual Indicative Program 2011-2013 of 225 million euro between Pakistan and EU was also signed by the Minister for Finance and the EU Commissioner. Under this arrangement, EU committed a grant of 75 million euro annually for a period of three years for rural development and natural resource management (90 million Euro), education and human resource development (euro 70 million), governance (50 million euro) and trade development (15 million euro).
Michael Koch, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany and Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of Delegation of the European Union were also present on the occasion. The German Minister appreciated economic reforms measures of the government and said that he discussed with the Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh to have economic engagement between the two countries for the next five years. He said that Pakistan trade could increase considerably among EU countries after the GSP plus status. The EU commissioner said that EU supports tax reforms in Pakistan that would bring economic prosperity.
Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh said that negotiations are being held with the EU for tariff concession, and thanked Germany for supporting Pakistan on the issue. He said that despite availability of relatively narrow fiscal space, Pakistan has not compromised on social and poverty related spending and is pursuing a strategy to promote inclusive economic growth. He added that as a result of the stabilisation initiatives, macro-economic indicators were showing improvement and that Pakistan's economy was resilient enough to withstand challenges. In the context of trade, the Minister for Finance thanked Germany and EU for their support in gaining access for Pakistani exporters to the EU market.