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Pakistan eyes $40bn aid from donors

* Zardari to attend Friends of Pakistan meeting, donors’ conference in Tokyo
* Govt to seek help in security, infrastructure and energy

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will seek $40 billion in aid and investment and $6 billion in annual budgetary support over five years during a meeting of the Friends of Pakistan forum and a donors’ conference scheduled in Tokyo on April 17, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.

President Asif Ali Zardari will represent Pakistan during the meetings. Bilateral and multilateral donors will make pledges the same day.

The decision was made in a meeting at the President’s House on Saturday, officials privy to the meeting told Daily Times.

The government would focus on seeking help from bilateral donors in the security, institution building, social development, infrastructure development, governance and energy sectors, the officials said. It will also seek market access for Pakistani goods, oil supplies on deferred payment, barter trade, a trust fund for the development of FATA and debt swaps from western countries, they added.

The participants of the meeting at the President’s House discussed preparations for the events.

In a statement, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the 15-member Friends of Pakistan group was formed in September last year on the initiative of President Asif Zardari to garner international support for bolstering Pakistan’s security and economic situation.

The countries and international bodies included in the group are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the US, the European Union, the EC and the United Nations.

A number of other countries including Sweden, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands are also likely to join the initiative in the near future, Babar said.

Two meetings of the group have thus far been held, one in New York on September 26, 2008 and the other in the UAE on November 17, 2008.

The April meeting will be crucial as a clear affirmation of support of world powers to stand by Pakistan is considered invaluable for the country’s long-term security, stability and economic development. The donors’ conference on the same day in Tokyo will be attended by representatives of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank among other bodies to address issues relating to Pakistan’s immediate financial problems.