Pakistan and Germany are longstanding development partners and since 1961 the European nation has provided €3.8 billion as technical and financial assistance for socio-economic development, said Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub.
In a meeting with German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth on Monday, he said that German development agency GIZ was providing €147.5 million for vocational training, social protection and renewable energy.
He pointed out that the Credit for Reconstruction Bank (KfW) had also committed €301 million for various development projects including renewable energy, healthcare, urban infrastructure and climate change.
He informed the German delegation about the ongoing policy reforms and initiatives.
Speaking about development priorities of the government, the minister said that there were stronger focus on climate change, green energy, agriculture, regional connectivity and information and communication technologies.
“There is a need to focus on vocational and technical education,” he said. “In this regard, a proposal for establishing a state-of-the-art technical training university in Gilgit-Baltistan is under consideration.”
The minister stressed the need for improving road and digital connectivity across the country to facilitate safe travel, farm-to-market access and e-services.
State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth expressed satisfaction over bilateral cooperation in different areas and discussed ways of further enhancing technical and financial collaboration.
He underlined that Germany would provide further assistance for the social sector including education and healthcare, green energy, urban infrastructure and digital governance.
Both sides exchanged views on increasing the cost-effectiveness of development assistance initiatives and the measures to enhance cooperation with the private sector including export competitiveness through technical and financial assistance.
In a separate meeting between Flasbarth and Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, both sides discussed various aspects of renewable energy resources and clean energy technologies in Pakistan and German cooperation in the sector.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2022.
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