Pakistan, donors discuss border areas uplift

ISLAMABAD The Pakistani government, international development partners and donors held talks on Friday to find ways to develop the areas bordering Afghanistan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz chaired the meeting. The NWFP and Balochistan governors and chief secretaries, representatives of multilateral and bilateral development partners, and secretaries of divisions attended the meeting, an official statement said.

The NWFP and Balochistan governors told the meeting of the government’s efforts to improve the quality of life in the areas with education, health facilities and infrastructure. They asked the international development partners to help generate economic activities in these areas.

The finance minister stressed coordinated efforts to speed up development. He also called for generating economic activity by promoting trade with Afghanistan. Mr Aziz briefed the meeting about the government’s efforts to increase allocation in the Public Sector Development Programme to help develop these areas.

The NWFP governor said that social and economic development of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas through cooperation, participatory and gender-sensitive policies and development strategies could bring these areas into the national mainstream. staff report

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