ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Japan had a long history of economic cooperation, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said, adding that he was now looking forward to furtherance of this cooperation with enhanced Japanese investment in Pakistan as pledged during his visit to Japan.
“The inauguration of state of the art Yamaha motorcycle plant in April, would also add another chapter to our economic cooperation,” the Minister said.
The Minister, along with Japanese Envoy, Hiroshi Inomata was talking to media on Wednesday after the signing of two Japanese grant agreements and exchange of notes. Under the agreements, the Japanese Government has extended a grant of Yen 1,934,000,000 (US $19 million) to the GoP for Improvement in Security Arrangements in Port Qasim, Karachi Port and Energy Saving in Water Supply System In Lahore. The Japanese Ambassador, Hiroshi Inomata and Secretary EAD, Saleem Sethi signed the two project agreements while notes containing details of the implementation of the two projects were simultaneously signed by Mr. Kawasaki, Chief Representative of JICA and Syed Mujtaba Hussain, Joint Secretary EAD.
The Minister went on to say that his visit to Japan was very productive as the senior leadership including the Japanese Deputy PM, all key institutions like JETRO, JBIC, JICA and CEOs of prominent companies resolved to have enhanced economic engagement with Pakistan. He welcomed the signing of the two agreements which he said were another step towards consolidation of Pak-Japan economic ties. Japanese Ambassador, Hiroshi Inomata said he had received positive feedback on the Finance Minister’s visit to Japan but there was need to actively follow up on the decisions taken during his meeting with Japanese side. He said the Japanese government was extending USD 16 billion to developing countries from 2013-15 on environment related issues. The grant approved for Pakistan (Energy saving for water supply system, Lahore) today also formed part of this assistance.
The Japanese Ambassador today once again denounced acts of terror saying “they were outrageous”. He said the Japanese government also had a resolve to help Pakistan in the war on terror. He said the assistance provided today (security improvement in Karachi, Bin Qasim Ports) would help improve security clearance system at the Karachi and Bin Qasim Ports. This is part of our support to Pakistan to curb terrorism, the Ambassador added. According to Japanese embassy, the Government of Japan had agreed to implement two grant aid projects approximately worth 2 Billion Yen through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
