Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday urged the Asian Development Bank to take lead role for setting up a consortium for financing the Bhasha-Diamer dam project at an estimated cost of 8 billion dollars. In a meeting with ADB President Haruhiko Kurodo here.
The Prime Minister also sought assistance for continuation of Higher Education Commission's adequate scholarship programme and for establishment of engineering university in Pakistan in collaboration with world's renowned institutions of excellence.
The Prime Minister lauded the ADB contribution towards development of infrastructure as the biggest development partner of Pakistan. He appreciated ADB's swift disbursement of the first tranche of $500 million in last September under 'Pakistan Accelerating Transformation Programme' initiative and expressed the hope that the second tranche of equivalent amount would also be disbursed in time by the second quarter of current year.
The Prime Minister briefed the ADB President on the structural reforms of his government under the difficult decisions like withdrawal of subsidies. Kurodo appreciated the policies of democratic government particularly its fiscal measures and hoped that Pakistan government will continue with the structural reforms.
He hoped that the constructive relationship between Pakistan and ADB would be further strengthened in future. The ADB President assured the Prime Minister that ADB would consider Pakistan's requests for financing the Bhasha dam project, and other programmes on energy, infrastructure, educational sector reforms and regional co-operation.
GILANI'S PLEA TO EU: Gilani urged the European Union to act upon the roadmap proposed by Pakistan for fostering a strategic partnership. In a meeting with the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Gilani said the EU and its member states need to provide market access to Pakistani products under the generalised system of preferences and the Free Trade Agreement.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in the South Asian region in terms of security. The Prime Minister expressed willingness to add substance and to reinvigorate their bilateral relations with Lithuania in political, commercial and economic fields.
The President of Lithuania said his country has a small contingent in Afghanistan, working with the Nato and has the common objective with Pakistan to bring stability to Afghanistan. He also mentioned the important role Pakistan was playing in the Muslim world and lauded the sacrifices made by it in the global war against terrorism. Prime Minister Gilani congratulated the Lithuanian President on the independence celebrations of his country.
BREAKFAST MEETING: Gilani said the government was facing serious economic and security challenges, but was committed to turn these into opportunities, through good governance and transparency.
Speaking here at a breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, headed by Ikram Sehgal, the Prime Minister said Pakistan too, like other countries, was facing the global economic crunch, but was handling it by adopting prudent policies.
He said the government was strictly adhering to a policy of transparency, as the new democratic government believed that proper accountability could ensure good governance in the country. The Prime Minister strongly dispelled the impression that Pakistan was a failed state and said all the state institutions were functioning properly.
Gilani said Pakistan was successfully isolating its tribes in the frontier region from militants and extremists. He said military action alone was not a solution to the situation in country's tribal areas. He described terrorism as a regional problem and said Pakistan paid a heavy price in its efforts to make the world a safer place to live in. He said Pakistan lost many times more its law enforcement officials as compared to Nato.
"We have the will to fight, but the world needs to build the capacity, particularly of its police and Frontier Constabulary." About the ties with the new US government, Prime Minister Gilani said the democratic government was in close contact with the Obama administration as both had the same desire to fight extremism and terrorism.
Gilani described the Mumbai incident as extremely unfortunate and said it occurred when both the countries were getting closer. About the Indian dossier, he said: "mere information is not the evidence" and added that the Interior Ministry was looking into the matter and would share the investigation results with India.
Gilani pointed at Pakistan's strategic location and said it can serve as a global economic hub, providing access to the landlocked Central Asian Republics, Middle East and rest of the world. About the economic forum that attracts world leaders and global business community from around the world, the Prime Minister stressed the need that the world must take necessary measures for the economic uplift of the developing countries.
Gilani stressed the need to develop a coherent global and institutional policy. He said the developing countries should ensure that these measures do not lead to trade protectionism or denial of market access to countries like Pakistan. The Prime Minister also spoke of the empowerment of women that his government has ensured and mentioned the Benazir Income Support Programme, recently launched by his government, with this sole objective.
MEETING WITH SCB CEO: Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Peter Sands called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday and apprised him of his banks expansion plans in Pakistan. Gilani appreciated the role Standard Chartered was playing in strengthening the country's banking sector and urged it to provide better services to its customers.
The CEO apprised the Prime Minister of his banks plan to expand services in Pakistan. He also informed about the Memorandum of Understanding that will be inked with the IFC soon. He said the Standard Chartered Bank will also assist the Small and Medium Enterprises project in Punjab with an objective to contribute towards helping Pakistan achieve the Millennium Development Goals.