109 million EURO for development! A Joint Declaration of Intent signed between Germany and Pakistan

109 million EURO for development! A Joint Declaration of Intent signed between Germany and Pakistan

Al-Bab Report

Islamabad: On the occasion of the visit of the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller, to Pakistan, a Joint Declaration of Intent was signed between between the Ministry of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany on Pakistan-German Development Cooperation. In the Declaration, both acknowledged the friendly relations existing between Germany and Pakistan and the desire to strengthen and intensify those friendly relations through development cooperation in a spirit of partnership, and intention to contribute to the social and economic development of Pakistan.

Both sides renewed their intention to continue their successful cooperation in order to meet Pakistan’s socio-economic development challenges, in coherence with Pakistan’s Vision 2025 and the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).They shared the conviction that good governance is a key success factor for sustainable development.

Both sides look back at over half a century of successful development cooperation in the energy sector and to work further closely to improve access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.

Germany congratulated the government of Pakistan on steady reform progress to promote a more enabling environment for job creation and sustainable income opportunities for all, in line with international social and environmental standards.

The German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development proffered the prospect of new funding for bilateral Technical and Financial Cooperation. Including the advance notification of additional funds in December 2016, cooperation could reach a significant level of up to 109 Million Euros for the two-year period 2017 -2018.

Development cooperation between Pakistan and Germany goes back to 1961, with the funding volume to date totaling some EUR 3 billion. Pakistan was thus one of Germany's first partner countries.