U.S.-Pakistan Economic Relations And U.S. Development Assistance To Pakistan’

[RabzonKhan]

U.S. Pakistan Aid Shows Little Progress

WSJ
By TOM WRIGHT
ASIA NEWS
FEBRUARY 8, 2011

The U.S. civilian-aid program for Pakistan has failed to show it is achieving its goals since Congress approved a $7.5 billion five-year assistance package in late 2009, according to an official U.S. government assessment.

The report, released jointly this week by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of State and Department of Defense, found U.S. aid officials on the ground in Pakistan had failed to supply data to allow a systematic evaluation of whether the assistance was helping stabilize the nation.

"One year after the launch of the civilian assistance strategy in Pakistan, USAID has not been able to demonstrate measurable progress," said the report, an assessment of the program for the final three months of 2010. "We believe that USAID has an imperative to accumulate, analyze, and report information on the results achieved under its programs."

The Obama administration is hoping the aid program to Pakistan, the second-largest recipient of U.S. civilian aid after Afghanistan, will help stabilize the fragile but strategically important country and boost America's image among ordinary Pakistanis. The program is focusing on funding visible infrastructure like bridges, roads and power stations.

But the U.S. strategy has faced a number of obstacles, including an Islamist insurgency that has made it dangerous for U.S. aid personnel to operate in some parts of the country. The U.S. remains deeply unpopular in Pakistan, in part due to strikes by unmanned Central Intelligence Agency drones against Taliban militants on the border with Afghanistan. The strikes also have killed civilians.

The report found that USAID, the lead U.S government agency for overseeing foreign civilian assistance, has been unable to recruit sufficient staff to oversee its Pakistan program. Its local office had 228 employees at the end of 2010, against a target of 296.

"Ongoing security threats impede effective implementation and monitoring of assistance," the report said.

The U.S. has moved to change the way it distributes aid, funneling more money through the Pakistan government and local organizations rather than international contractors. Contractors handled 90% of previous U.S. assistance programs and were unpopular among Pakistanis.

The aim is to build the capacity of Pakistani institutions. The report noted the U.S. government had taken steps to ensure that funneling so much money through Pakistan's government, which has a reputation for corruption, does not lead to misuse of funds. These steps include first auditing the agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

But the report said relying on Pakistani institutions could lead to malfeasance. "Limited institutional capacity—especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan—creates a risk that resources might be lost through inefficiency, theft, or general lack of capacity to handle large amounts of funding," it said.

 

[RabzonKhan]

US considers unilateral trade preferences to help Pakistan

Daily Times
March 06, 2011
Staff Report



ISLAMABAD: The United States administration has expressed its willingness to consider a unilateral trade preferences programme to help Pakistan overcome economic difficulties. This was revealed in the US president’s 2011 Trade Policy Agenda, which provides a roadmap for US trade policy initiatives for the ongoing year. The policy document provides a resolve by the US government to continue supporting economic opportunities through trade for those countries ravaged by disaster or violence. Two countries specified in the report for such efforts are: Haiti and Pakistan.

The document’s paragraph concerning Pakistan reads: “This year, we will also help our Pakistani partners recover from last year’s devastating floods by seeking to build economic prosperity through trade. To this end, we will work with Congress to ensure renewal of GSP and to identify other mechanisms, including appropriate preference policies that can provide Pakistan the opportunities necessary to overcome challenges like the 2010 floods.”

Commerce Minister, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, had written a letter to US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk on September 2, 2010, requesting support for Pakistan.

During a recent visit of a US diplomat, David Lipton, to the country, the Commerce Ministry repeated its request for trade concessions while highlighting its earlier request made by the commerce minister to the USTR.

In August 2010, Pakistan witnessed worst floods and requested the international community for immediate relief and assistance.

A Pakistan-specific trade agenda for 2011 announced by the US government is the result of comprehensive efforts of the government and Commerce Ministry, which would remain engaged with the USTR to develop appropriate measures to realise this policy objective.

Waivers: The CTG approved several requests for waivers related to implementation of the Harmonised Tariff System and renegotiation of tariff schedules. The CTG also considered, but did not act upon, a request of the European Union (EU) for a waiver on additional autonomous preferences granted by it (EU) to Pakistan. The issue will revert to the CTG this year, following consultations between the EU and those members who have expressed concerns.

GSP: Although GSP benefits for textile and apparel are limited, certain handmade products are eligible for GSP treatment. The US has entered into agreements, providing for certification and GSP eligibility of certain handmade, folkloric products, with 16 beneficiary countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Botswana, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uruguay. These agreements provide a basis for extending duty-free treatment to exports produced primarily by women and the poor of the beneficiary countries.

The 2010 data on exports to the US indicates that many beneficiaries have made progress in diversifying and expanding their exports to it (US) under the GSP programme, despite the challenging economic conditions. For instance, Pakistan exported at least 321 different products (at an eight-digit tariff level) to the US under the GSP.

Contributing to regional stability: In support of America’s national security objectives in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq in 2010, USTR Kirk strengthened his engagement with them as a part of a broader effort to boost trade, employment, and sustainable development.

The USTR hosted a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meeting with Afghanistan on November 8, 2010, which included a session with the private sector and the USTR advisory committee members. The USTR also hosted a TIFA meeting with Pakistan on April 23, 2010.

Working with other US agencies, the USTR participated in trilateral and other high-level meetings with officials from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Key highlights from 2010 included: The USTR and other agencies continued to seek passage of trade preference legislation, including the Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) legislation, to provide duty-free benefits for certain products exported to the US from Afghanistan and critical border areas of Pakistan. The USTR also led discussions on how Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq could increase use of existing trade benefits under the US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

The USTR supported negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan on a modern transit trade agreement that would boost regional trade and help create economic opportunities in both the countries.

 

[RabzonKhan]

US boosts incomes of Balochistan’s poor households

Daily Times
Staff Report
April 07, 2011

ISLAMABAD: The United States under a development project has boosted incomes of more than 9000 households—mainly farmers—in the border districts of Balochistan by 20-50 percent.

The 16 million dollar project launched in 2006 is funded by the American people through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and delivered by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Balochistan government.

Ending this summer, the project will either directly or indirectly benefit more than 240,000 individuals in five border districts of Balochistan.

The project is helping communities improve their production of apples, grapes, onions and other crops as well as livestock such as sheep and cattle.

With USAID funding, FAO is teaching villagers to sort their products and assisting farmers in finding more profitable markets. The project is also helping villagers form community organisations to share their skills and increase their bargaining power.

One of the many villages that have benefited from this assistance is Saragurhai, Quetta District. The USAID-funded project worked with a local company, EDO Livestock, to help the Saragurhai’s women’s community organisation improve shearing, cleaning, and sorting of wool to increase its market value. The project has also helped villagers to find buyers at the Multan wool market.

“I sold 10 maunds (400 kilograms) of wool in Multan and earned Rs 1,700 per maund instead of the Rs 400 that I usually get,” said one of the women. Approximately one-fifth of the participants are women.

Similarly, in apple-growing communities, the USAID-funded project introduced sorting of apples by quality, which has increased revenues from apple sales by 30 percent.

In livestock-raising communities, the USAID-funded project helped farmers take more control over setting the price for their animals. Cattle-raisers used to travel to Quetta to sell their livestock, losing value along the way. No more. In cooperation with the government of Balochistan and district governments, the project established cattle markets in four districts. As a result, animal sales quadrupled in the past three years, and sales revenues increased significantly.

 

[RabzonKhan]

'Sesame Street' To Get $20 Million Remake In Pakistan

The Huffington Post
04/ 08/2011

In an effort to boost education in Pakistan, the U.S. is donating $20 million to fund a local version of "Sesame Street," set to air later this year.

As the Guardian is reporting, the remake of the popular children's program will swap the traditional New York setting for a Pakistani village. Though the new version is not expected to feature Cookie Monster or Big Bird, it will instead focus on Rani, a six-year-old female Muppet with pigtails and a blue-and-white school uniform, who will speak in Urdu.

"She will represent what little girls have to go through in this gender-biased society‚" Imraan Peerzada‚ writer for the local series‚ tells Newsweek Pakistan. He went on to note that the show will inevitably include "a gentle treatment" on the nation's battle with militancy, though direct references to religion are currently out of the question. "We are not avoiding religion‚ but we don't want to label children...the basic learning tools of literacy‚ numeracy‚ hygiene‚ and healthy eating have to be in place first."

The Pakistani "Sesame Street" will reportedly join co-productions in 30 other countries around the world, including Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa. Elmo -- arguably the American version's most popular character in recent years -- is expected to get a Pakistani counterpart, with local personality touches, according to the Guardian.

USAid, the development arm of the U.S. government which is funding the project, says the program is just "part of a series of ventures that is aimed at developing the educational infrastructure," in Pakistan, where many children have limited access to schooling, according to the BBC.

 

[CLIPPER4LIFE]

'Sesame Street' To Get $20 Million Remake In Pakistan

The Huffington Post
04/ 08/2011

In an effort to boost education in Pakistan, the U.S. is donating $20 million to fund a local version of "Sesame Street," set to air later this year.

As the Guardian is reporting, the remake of the popular children's program will swap the traditional New York setting for a Pakistani village. Though the new version is not expected to feature Cookie Monster or Big Bird, it will instead focus on Rani, a six-year-old female Muppet with pigtails and a blue-and-white school uniform, who will speak in Urdu.

"She will represent what little girls have to go through in this gender-biased society‚" Imraan Peerzada‚ writer for the local series‚ tells Newsweek Pakistan. He went on to note that the show will inevitably include "a gentle treatment" on the nation's battle with militancy, though direct references to religion are currently out of the question. "We are not avoiding religion‚ but we don't want to label children...the basic learning tools of literacy‚ numeracy‚ hygiene‚ and healthy eating have to be in place first."

The Pakistani "Sesame Street" will reportedly join co-productions in 30 other countries around the world, including Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa. Elmo -- arguably the American version's most popular character in recent years -- is expected to get a Pakistani counterpart, with local personality touches, according to the Guardian.

USAid, the development arm of the U.S. government which is funding the project, says the program is just "part of a series of ventures that is aimed at developing the educational infrastructure," in Pakistan, where many children have limited access to schooling, according to the BBC.

This is pretty funny as the US is trying to instill their own media through the grassroots of Pakistan. The US have done this all the time. During the period of WWII and the Cold War they have used these so called media tools to change the mindsets of little children. An example would be "Looney Tunes". Still this is still quite funny.

 

[RabzonKhan]

U.S. Support ‘Essential and Critical' to Wheat Farmers

April 4, 2011

Islamabad - The timely U.S. contribution of $62 million - more than two thirds of the $92 million available, allowed the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to distribute wheat seeds to flood stricken areas of Pakistan. The result will be a viable Rabi (winter) wheat harvest for 2011.

Thanks to this effort, FAO expects that Pakistan will enjoy a good wheat harvest this year, estimating it will produce $190 million of wheat flour.

"U.S. assistance to these projects was not just helpful, it was essential and critical to our ability to act quickly enough with seed distribution to ensure a viable harvest," FAO representative for Pakistan Kevin Gallagher said. "It would have been very difficult to mobilize the surge of staff necessary to distribute the seed in time without the American support."

Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the American people provided FAO with $21 million for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, $25 million in Punjab, and $16 million in Balochistan. The assistance also included fertilizer, and cash-for-work programs to clear irrigation canals blocked by silt from the floods.

"The United States was the first donor to provide us with seeds for our traditional wheat crop so we were able to plant it in time to get the maximum yields, so we can feed our families for the next year," a religious leader from Nowshera said shortly after the seed arrived.

Gallagher also said that U.S. donations are saving the lives of almost a million livestock by supplying temporary shelter, dry animal feed and de-worming tablets to 290,000 farm families. The cost of keeping the animals alive is just one tenth of replacing them, which can equal a family's lifetime savings.

Through a separate project, USAID provided $15 million to support the distribution of sunflower seeds as an alternative cash crop in Sindh. Sunflowers have a shorter growing season than wheat, can be planted later, and can be easily sold for processing into cooking oil.

 

[RabzonKhan]

US assures $190m for rehabilitation of flood-hit people

The News
April 19, 2011


WASHINGTON: The United States of America has assured Pakistan to grant $190 million dollar for rehabilitation of flood-hit people, Geo News reported.

This was assured in a meeting of Pak-US Strategic Dialogue Working Group for economy and finance. Pakistan Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, US Deputy Finance Secretary and other officials participated in the talks.

Joint communiqué issued after bilateral talks reads that the US would grant $190 million aid to Pakistan for rehabilitation of flood-hit people.

Efforts of Pakistan to boost revenue collection and controlling the budget deficit was hailed in the meeting.

 

[RabzonKhan]

US to provide $70m for reconstruction of Peshawar-Torkham Highway

Sep 10 2012

ISLAMABAD - The United States through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide up to $70 million to support the reconstruction of the Peshawar-Torkham Highway.The project will be managed by the FATA Secretariat and monitored by the National Highway Authority (NHA).

"For centuries, the Peshawar to Torkham route has served as the most famous trade path between Pakistan and Afghanistan," said USAID Mission Director Jock Conly. "Reconstruction of the highway will not only boost the trade between these countries but also improve their economies by serving as the trade-gateway to the Central Asian states."

The 46 km Peshawar-Torkham road is part of Pakistan's N-5 highway (identified by the NHA as Grand Trunk [G.T.] Road). It was originally built by Emperor Sher Shah of Sur in the 16th century and remains the shortest route to Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. The current road's outdated design has sustained substantial wear. The new design will feature improved specifications that will widen the roadbed, straighten out sharp turns, and reduce steep gradients. The plans also include rebuilding bridges and culverts to make it an all-weather road.

This road complements a network of roads that the U.S. government has supported the Government of Pakistan to rebuild. Since October 2009, the United States has helped build over 226 km of roads in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the recently inaugurated Tank-Makin and Kaur-Wana roads in South Waziristan. The Peshawar-Torkham Highway and
other ongoing U.S.-funded road projects will add over 400 km of additional roads in the coming years.

 

[RabzonKhan]

US launching fund to finance small, medium enterprises

By Shahbaz Rana / Creative: Samra Aamir
June 22, 2013


ISLAMABAD: Amid lingering doubts about the success of similar past programmes, the United States is going to launch the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative to provide financing and equity to small and medium enterprises in the country.

The Pakistan Private Investment Initiative (PPII) will be launched formally at the US-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference, which will be held in Dubai next week, US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson announced here on Friday.

The private equity fund will contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in Pakistan. About 150 companies are expected to participate in the conference.

While extending assurances that the US will not abandon Pakistan after withdrawing from Afghanistan, Olson said “trade and investment is the future of the US-Pakistan relationship.”

Olson did not disclose the details of the initiative, but according to initial reports, the US will offer loans ranging from $500,000 to $5 million to small and medium sized businesses in Pakistan to help them expand and create jobs.

The US will contribute about $80 million to the fund, and the amount will have to be matched by private equity funds. There will be multiple funds, each having a minimum size of $45 million.

Olson said the Dubai meeting will serve two key purposes – to “show the American companies investment opportunities in Pakistan and to emphasise for Pakistani companies the trade opportunities in US markets.”

Kerry-Lugar aid package

Responding to a question about past initiatives which yielded below-expectation results, like the Friends of Democratic Pakistan forum, electricity import from Central Asia, the Pak-US Business Council and the Kerry-Lugar Act, Olson said all these projects were alive, conceded that progress might have been slow on them.

He admitted that disbursements for Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid package were taking time. There have been challenges following the adoption of 18th Constitutional Amendment, as many subjects were devolved to the provinces and the donors have to deal with many departments which took more time in developing projects to be financed by the Kerry-Lugar programme.

According to another US official, the US remains committed to providing the $7.5 billion promised under the package, irrespective of the number of years needed for disbursement. Initially, the target was to disburse the amount in five years.

Coalition Support Fund

On the issue of disbursements under the Coalition Support Fund, Olson said the US had just received the request for disbursements for the period July- September 2012 and it was processing it expeditiously. So far, no decision had been taken on continuing or winding up the CSF after the US pulled out of Afghanistan, he clarified.

Discussing the delay in signing a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) discussed earlier by Pakistan and the US, Olson said the matter had been put off as the Pakistan government did not complete its consultation with its agencies. “We would like to conclude the BIT, which is a useful step to demonstrate that Pakistan is open to businesses,” he added.

He said the US was helping Pakistan meet its energy requirements through supporting the Diamer Bhasha Dam. The US is working with multilateral institutions for arranging funds for the $13 billion dam, he added.

 

[RabzonKhan]

[URL='http://tribune.com.pk/story/684049/agri-tech-us-transfers-wheat-sowing-technology/']Agri-tech: US transfers wheat-sowing technology[/url]

By APP
March 18, 2014

ISLAMABAD: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday transferred the latest wheat-sowing technology to Pakistan with an aim to enhance healthy production in the country.

The USDA, under the US-Pakistan Wheat Productivity Enhancement Project (WPEP), handed over wheat-sowing planters to various research institutions and universities that would replace the traditional hand-sowing system and antiquated machinery, currently utilised in Pakistan.

The planters will initially be utilised on pilot projects in these institutions and would be replicated to transfer the technology to farmers to enhance their crop productivity. The wheat planters were handed over to these institutions at a ceremony at National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) which was jointly organised by the USDA, International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), and several Pakistani agriculture institutions and universities.

The USDA-sponsored WPEP has imported research-grade wheat planters for provincial and university partners to increase Pakistan’s wheat productivity. Speaking on the handing-over ceremony, Secretary Ministry for Food Security and Research (MFSR), Seerat Asghar said that although the country’s population was growing fast, we have been successful in catering to increasing food needs due to research conducted in the agriculture field.

He said that the wheat sowing technology should have been transferred three decades ago, however, he remarked that it was never too late. He added that the planters would particularly help small farmers in enhancing crop productivity. The planters will be handed over to the local manufacturers to replicate the technology to ensure that farmers are able to benefit, said Asghar.

 

[RabzonKhan]

[URL='http://tribune.com.pk/story/703742/the-us-and-pakistan-50-years-of-partnership-in-agriculture/']The US and Pakistan: 50 years of partnership in agriculture [/URL]

The Express Tribune
Richard G Olson
May 4, 2014

The writer is the US ambassador to Pakistan

Since my arrival in Pakistan on October 31, 2012, I have spoken at length on the breadth and depth of the US-Pakistan partnership. We have a rich partnership in energy, trade and investment, economic development, regional stability and counterterrorism. Today, in honour of Dr Norman Borlaug, who many have called the father of Pakistan’s Green Revolution, I wish to illustrate another facet of our enduring partnership: 50 years of joint efforts to support Pakistan’s agricultural development, especially in wheat production.

Around the world, wheat holds the honour of being grown on more arable land than any other crop. In Pakistan, it provides an average person 60 per cent of their daily caloric intake. Similarly, in the United States, we consume more wheat per person than any other food staple and produce wheat in 42 of our 50 states. We celebrated this crucial crop at a ceremony in Islamabad on April 23 because 50 years ago, a US scientist pioneered a partnership with Pakistani colleagues that quickly revolutionised agriculture here.

In 1963, Dr Norman E Borlaug and several Pakistani scientists, who were supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, began work on a highly productive wheat variety known as ‘Mexi-Pak’. This new variety ushered in a rise in agricultural productivity, increasing wheat yields in Pakistan by 25 per cent between 1961 and 1969. Coined the ‘Green Revolution’ in 1968 by USAID’s administrator William Gaud, the techniques and seeds of the Green Revolution spread around the world helping countries stave off famine as population growth outpaced their farmers’ capacity to feed. Dr Borlaug is credited with saving a billion lives. He received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970 for his work in increasing agricultural productivity. Hundreds of millions of people continue to eat every day because of Dr Borlaug’s efforts.

The story of Dr Borlaug’s work here is the best known result of the US-Pakistan agricultural cooperation. Yet, many Pakistani and American agricultural experts have achieved a number of successes working together. For example, American scientists working at the University of California, Riverside, developed Pakistan’s best known varietal of citrus, the Kinnow. They shared it with their colleagues at what was then the Punjab Agricultural College (now the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad), who perfected methods to grow some of the sweetest citrus in the world. In 1977, the US supported the establishment of the National Agricultural Research Centre and endowed funds that support critical agricultural research. We continue the spirit of the Green Revolution and build upon our past success through our continued and close collaboration to help increase cotton productivity, improve agricultural water management, fight virulent animal diseases and enhance wheat productivity.

Our continuing partnership to support Pakistan’s wheat sector is a direct harvest of the seeds and friendship Dr Borlaug planted 50 years ago. Through the Wheat Productivity Enhancement Project, we have brought together scientists from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, and Pakistani scientists to help Pakistani wheat farmers. This project has introduced two wheat varieties that can resist an extremely virulent wheat rust called UG-99. Without these new varieties, called ‘Pak-Terra’ and ‘NARC 2011’, experts estimate that UG-99 could wipe out as much as 50 per cent of Pakistan’s annual wheat harvest if the disease appeared in the country.

Building on Dr Borlaug’s wheat legacy, USAID recently launched the $30 million Agricultural Innovation Project. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, four international agricultural research centres, a US land grant university and the apex body of Pakistan’s agricultural research system have put their hands to the plough to give farmers innovative technologies and modern practices. This project will provide tens of thousands of farmers access to improved varieties of wheat and other cereals, as well as access to modern technology for cultivating cereals, growing vegetables and raising livestock.

In addition to toiling together in the fields and laboratories, the United States and Pakistan are partnering in the classroom, where the seeds of innovation are sown and solutions to the next generation of challenges blossom.

How? The US supports agricultural universities across Pakistan. The Agricultural University of Peshawar has an endowment from USDA that supports research and scholarships. At the University of Faisalabad, we not only have a similar endowment, but USAID is also providing over $30 million to establish a Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security that will cement links between Pakistani scholars and US universities. The Centre will improve access for disadvantaged students, improve the university’s governance and curriculum, and link applied research to the needs of the private and public sectors. These collaborative institutions will train the next generation of scientists to carry on the legacy of Dr Borlaug and his Pakistani counterparts.

The goals of our ongoing cooperation are tripartite, as together: we increase incomes for Pakistani farmers; we improve access to nutritious food for millions of Pakistanis who depend on wheat; and we ensure that Pakistan can secure its most important food sources. I like to think that Dr Borlaug would be pleased with our continued cooperation and hard work. Nevertheless, we must continue to focus, develop and cultivate new solutions because population growth, finite water resources and new diseases threaten the progress we have made so far. We remain fully committed to advancing these important partnership activities to continue to cultivate the spirit of Dr Borlaug’s work to keep Pakistan and the world fed.

 

[CENTCOM]

The deep bond our nations have built over the years- continues to flourish. Yes, it is no secret that the differences have arisen, but at the same time, our alliance has always prevailed over everything else. We have always emphasized Pakistan’s importance in the region, and wish to see a safe and secure nation. Our nations are working together on many projects that directly contribute to Pakistan’s success. For example: “USAID has helped rebuild or renovate more than 600 schools over the last three years – providing 86,000 children with new spaces where they can study and learn. In many of these schools, USAID supplied computers, science kits, books, and other educational materials. Another 120,000 children will have access to newly constructed or rehabilitated schools by 2018.” The link below provides detailed information regarding USAID’s contribution towards education in Pakistan:

Pakistan | Education | U.S. Agency for International Development

Contrary to all conspiracy theories, it is simply in our best interest to see a prosperous Pakistan. We have not allowed any rumors to affect our shared drive to stabilize the region, and we certainly hope to remain unified for the betterment of the region.

Ali Khan

Digital Engagement Team, USCENTCOM

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

sure...

 

[RabzonKhan]

United States and Pakistan Sign Agreement to Rehabilitate Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Highway

Islamabad, May 12, 2014
USAID to provide USD 90 million for the Rehabilitation of this Important Trade Route

Today U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson and Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry signed a project implementation agreement to complete the N-25 highway connecting Chaman to Kalat through Quetta, Balochistan. The agreement provides $64 million to the Government of Pakistan for this crucial infrastructure project, with an additional $26 million to be allocated at a future date.


The rehabilitation of the highway will restore a major trade route between Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. The highway will also establish a vital link between Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan, reaching all the way to Karachi. It will help revitalize cities and communities along the highway, expand communication and transportation services, and improve access to basic health, education, and other social services.

“The United States is proud to partner with the Government of Pakistan in rebuilding essential infrastructure. When completed, this highway will become part of the growing legacy of partnership between our two nations, as it will serve the people of Pakistan for generations to come,” Ambassador Olson said at the signing.

Under the agreement, the United States, through USAID, will fund the construction of the remaining 111 kilometers needed to complete the 247 kilometer-long highway. Work on the project began in 2004, but was interrupted in 2010 because of security challenges in the area. The Pakistani National Highway Authority will be responsible for all construction and will work with stakeholders to ensure its completion.

The funding of the highway is one element of a comprehensive U.S. program in Pakistan to help restore essential public infrastructure in remote communities. To date, the United States has funded the construction and rehabilitation of nearly 900 kilometers of roads, including the four major trade routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the construction of 474 kilometers of roads in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

 

[Rank]

The rehabilitation of the highway will restore a major trade route between Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. The highway will also establish a vital link between Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan, reaching all the way to Karachi.


Yes we know inko 10 saal baad kyo yaad aya hey ... all are complete BS that route for Pakistan to Central Asia trade... this route is for POST WITHDRAWAL for US forces 2014 - right now current road is completely damaged and not capable to hold massive amount of heavy movement. They construct that road just to move NATO and US forces equipment. **** banaya huwa hey koom ko is Govt and USA nay .. If normal layman person like me easily speculate this inkay liye koon sa masla hey is baat ko samjna ?