PHOTO: REUTERS
Japan Ambassador Takashi Kurai and Economic Affairs Division Additional Secretary Anjum Assad Amin inked the loan documents.
Japan State Minister of Foreign Affairs Nobuo Kishi and Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif were present on the occasion.
Welcoming the Japanese assistance, Asif acknowledged that Japan’s economic cooperation had played a critical role in the development of socio-economic sector in Pakistan with main focus on human progress, poverty reduction and capacity building of institutions.
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The energy sector has a direct bearing on economic growth and prosperity of Pakistan. Total loan assistance from the Japanese government stands at $960 million and grant assistance at $156 million.
The objective of the project, which will be implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), is to improve reliability of the national grid.
It will meet growing demand for electricity through the reinforcement of transmission lines necessary for power supply to Islamabad and surrounding areas as well as contribute to the improvement of economic infrastructure.
The project includes civil works and equipment for transmission lines of 220 kilovolts between the Tarbela hydroelectric power plant and the Burhan sub-station.
The government of Japan has provided the loan at highly concessionary terms and conditions with interest rate at Libor plus 10 basis points (equivalent to 0.12%) and repayment over 30 years including 10-year grace period.
Prior to signing of the loan agreement, Nobuo met the water and power minister. Asif emphasised that Pakistan looked forward to further economic cooperation with Japan for the benefit of its people in line with the government’s priorities and strategy.
He pointed out that Pakistan was fast improving its energy basket and had introduced investor-friendly policies to attract heavy investments in the energy sector.
The water and power minister claimed that efforts made by Pakistan to tap renewable energy resources were highly appreciated at all forums.
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“The new energy mix introduced by the government is quite rich and has the potential to bring down prices of electricity,” he said and invited Japanese entrepreneurs to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan.
The minister praised cooperation between Japan and Pakistan in various fields and especially cited Japanese assistance for the power sector.
Nobuo assured the minister that Japan would continue to work with Pakistan in varying fields as Tokyo looked forward to even warmer rations with Islamabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2017.
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