President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday called upon the US to fast track reimbursement of outstanding Coalition Support Fund of $1.6 billion and early realisation of the Tokyo pledges to ensure economic stability of Pakistan. The President said this while talking to the US President's Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, who called on him here and discussed a wide-range of issues concerning the two countries.
Briefing the media persons after the meeting, spokesman to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that President Zardari also emphasised the fast tracking of the enactment of the Biden-Lugar Bill as well as the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones Bill.
Present at the meeting were Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Secretary General Salman Farooqui, Pakistan's ambassador in United States Hussain Haqqani and senior officials of the Foreign Office.
Holbrooke was assisted by Deputy Secretary of State and Special Assistant to the President on International Economics. The Economic Advisor to the Special Envoy was also present on the occasion. The President said that these measures were necessary to expedite the country's development programme and rebuild the infrastructure as peace dividend to the people gravely affected by the huge damage caused to infrastructure due to fight against militancy.
The spokesman said the President also impressed upon the US interlocutor the need for channelling assistance through existing institutions and budgetary mechanism which will strengthen their capacity on the one hand and also avoid overlap and duplication on the other.
Farhatullah Babar quoted the president as saying that Pakistan needed increased access to the US markets and called upon the US to create special category for conflict-affected countries under its GSP Plus programme in addition to ROZs. Pakistan's energy requirements also came under discussion and President Zardari while welcoming the setting up of an Energy Task Force expressed the hope that significant forward movement will be made in the wake of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Islamabad next month.
During the meeting, the matters concerning the forthcoming rendezvous of the FoDP also came under discussion. The President said that a vision for the rehabilitation and reconstruction through a comprehensive consultative process has been finalised which was shared with the FoDP at its ministerial meeting in Istanbul last month and was endorsed by the FoDP member countries.
The President made out a case for fast tracking the delivery of counter insurgency technology and equipment and investment in education sector being vital for challenging and changing the militant mindset. Earlier, the President also attended the opening plenary and 5th Annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative and the welcoming reception hosted by former US President Bill Clinton for the heads of states and governments attending the colloquium.
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