Pakistan is urging Japan to step up its economic assistance for the development, a senior official at Pakistan embassy said on Friday. The Economic Minister at Pakistan embassy, Iftikhar Babar, told APP that he is currently holding talks with the Japanese authorities for expansion in the volume of Tokyo's Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Pakistan by including some more developmental projects.
He said that a delegation from Japan, presently in Pakistan, was holding negotiations for co-operation in various development projects including areas of power and communication infrastructures under Japanese ODA programme.
A team of Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC) is holding talks to finalise projects to be initiated under ODA programme for 2008, he noted. He said that the projects are in advance stage of consultations, most likely to be incorporated under $500 million ODA for Pakistan for 2008, are New Khanki Barrage Rehabilitation, 500 KV Grid Station Construction Project (Lahore), 250-KV Johar Town Grid Station Construction project (Lahore), Secondary Transmission Lines and Grid Station Project (Gujranwala), Karachi Circular Railway Project and Rural Roads Project, Punjab, Phase-II.
Iftikhar said that the team would discuss and finalise these projects before incorporating these in ODA programme, subject to their feasibility studies and successful holding of negotiations with executing agencies.
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