Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said Pakistan is pleased and satisfied with the response of international community to the October 8 earthquake.
He said the world has stood by Pakistan in the difficult time which is a sign of their confidence in the credibility and transparent procedures adopted by the government.
Shaukat Aziz was talking to Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation Agges van Ardenne and Irish Minister of State for Development Co-operation Conor Lenihan who called on him at PM House.
The two ministers expressed sympathy and support over the loss of life and property as a result of earthquake.
The Prime Minister briefed the visiting ministers on the on-going reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the quake-affected areas.
Shaukat Aziz said the entire work is being done by the civil administration, Army and elected representatives with close co-ordination. He said NGOs have also been contributing in government's relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. He said that the government was focusing on evolving transparent methods for funds collection and utilisation, adding the government has laid down a procedure for double audits and constituted a committee comprising people from different sections of the society for monitoring.
Briefing the visitors about the economic and structural reforms undertaken by the government, the Prime Minister said Pakistan was in the midst of an economic upturn. He said wide-ranging structural reforms, prudent macro economic policies, fiscal discipline and consistency and continuity in the policies have transformed Pakistan into a stable and resurgent economy.
The Prime Minister said last year, the real GDP grew by 8.4 percent and this was the third year in a row that Pakistan had achieved strong GDP growth.
The Hong Kong trade talks also came under discussion and Shaukat Aziz said he had been advocating for a more level playing field in the agriculture sector.
He said that Pakistan was also in favour of reduced tariff, however, the economies need to be reformed to face the challenges of free trade. The Dutch Minister highly appreciated the timely steps taken by Pakistan for the relief, rescue and rehabilitation. She said Pakistan authorities have done a fantastic job and everywhere she visited, she saw the revival of normal life activities, which is commendable.
Agges van Ardenne said the Dutch government has donated 35 million dollars, in addition the private sector has raised 35 million dollars for the quake-affected areas.
She said the government of Netherlands was launching a programme for Pakistan in the education sector and has allocated $35 million for the purpose.
The Irish Minister also appreciated Pakistani authorities for meeting the needs of the quake victims. He congratulated the Prime Minister on the success of the Donors Conference. Conor Lenihan announced an additional aid of 5 million dollars as Ireland had already announced similar amount in the conference.
The discussion also focused on regional and international issues including composite dialogue with India on Kashmir dispute, situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and counter terrorism. The Prime Minister said Pakistan wants peace with all the countries and added that sustained peace in South Asia will be possible with the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with the wishes of Kashmiris.
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