IP/07/115
Brussels, 31 January 2007
EU-Pakistan: Commission proposes increase in assistance Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, presented to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz the assistance package that the Commission is proposing for Pakistan for an amount of €200 million over the next four years. A major part of the €200 million will be spent on rural development in the North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan to strengthen natural resources management, develop community physical infrastructure and to improve livelihoods and employment opportunities, thus contributing towards enhancing Pakistan's economic and social cohesion. The second focal area will be education and human resources development to help advance access to education and better service delivery. Particular care will be taken for women and girls to benefit from these activities. Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "We have proposed to significantly step up our assistance to Pakistan in the next years. The overall aim of European Commission operations in Pakistan is to fight poverty and to help Pakistan in following a sustainable growth path and a stable development. Rural development, natural resources as well as education and human resources development are vital areas towards this aim. Full implementation of the new cooperation agreement will provide the right framework to intensify our dialogue and enhance our cooperation."
Over the 5-year period from 2002-2006, the European Commission provided a total of €125 million in development cooperation funding to Pakistan, of which most was spent on education, financial sector reforms and trade development. Following the devastating earthquake of 8 November 2005, the Commission committed an additional amount of €98.6 million for humanitarian relief and reconstruction.
For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/pakistan/intro/index.htm
