Japan’s Economic Cooperation to Pakistan in 2019―Continuous Support to Pakistan’s Socio-Economic Development

   

1. At the beginning of the celebratory year of 2020, the year of Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games, the Embassy of Japan expresses its wishes to work on further developing amicable relations between Japan and Pakistan in a wide range of fields. Especially, economic cooperation has played an important role in strengthening ties between the two countries. The total amount of Japan’s economic assistance to Pakistan up until March 2019 reached USD12.42 billion, starting from accepting Pakistani trainees back in 1954 (Technical assistance: USD556 million, Grant assistance: USD2.648 billion, Yen loans: USD9.215 billion) (At a rate of JPY107.9 per dollar).  This makes Japan the second largest economic partner of Pakistan after the United States.

 

2. In 2019, the Government of Japan provided USD82.12 million in total to Pakistan under the following twelve new Grant Aid projects in different sectors including health, disaster-management, agriculture and water supply. Additionally, Technical assistance has also been provided by dispatching Japanese experts in different fields such as the automotive and apparel industry.

 
 Newly Signed Grant Aid in 2019

Sector	Project name & outline	Amount*
February 19
Health	The Project for Nutrition Support for Malnourished Children and Pregnant and Lactating Women in the Hosting Districts of Afghan Refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (through WFP)   ⇒Distribution of dietary supplements for 30,000 babies and infants and 28,000 pregnant and lactating women. Training for female health workers.	USD3.67 million
Peace Building Health Water Supply Education	The Project for Stabilization through Inclusive Livelihood in the Tribal Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (through UNDP)   ⇒Rehabilitation of the basic infrastructure such as water-supply facilities for those who have returned to their communities after being displaced by the mopping-up operations against terrorists starting from 2014 (17,500 beneficiaries). Vocational training for the young population (6,000 beneficiaries).	USD3.73 million
Disaster Management	The Project for Strengthening Preparedness for Tsunami and Earthquakes in Coastal Areas in Pakistan(through UNDP)   ⇒Improvement of the early-warning system for Tsunami, construction of evacuation centers, formulation of the guidelines for school children and training for capability to cope with disasters (1.5 million beneficiaries).	USD3.81 million

 

April 23
Health	The Project for the Extension of Intensive Care at Maternal and Child Health Care Centre and Children’s Hospital in Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS)   ⇒Establishment of an intensive care ward for mothers and children who require urgent attention, which will enable to accommodate 300 intensive-care patients a year in 2024. Provision of the medical equipment such as infant incubators.	USD33.55 million
Counter Terrorism Improvement of logistics	The Economic and Social Development Program   ⇒Installation of the security inspection equipment such as X-ray cargo scanners for the smooth checking of explosive devises, arms and illicit drug at the dry ports, which handle 25% of the international cargo in Pakistan.	USD17.6 million

 

June 14
Education	The project for Promoting girl’s education through Improved Leaning Environment in KP   ⇒Construction of schools for girls who have currently no access to  education (1,500 girls direct beneficiaries, and 51,900 residents indirect beneficiaries)	USD0.63 million

 

July 25
Human resources	The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship   ⇒Providing an opportunity to 20 young civil servants to study in Japan, who are expected to play a variety of roles in formulating and implementing economic and social development policies in Pakistan.	USD2.98 million

 

August 5
Agriculture	The Project for Agri-food and Agro-industry Development Assistance in Pakistan (through UNIDO)   ⇒Support to create a value chain of agricultural products by the provision of agro-processing equipment, construction of storage warehouses and technical assistance for producing, processing and distributing agricultural products.	USD5.19 million

 

October 29
Health Education Water Supply	The Project to improve the environment of health, education, water and sanitation for Afghan refugees and Pakistani communities (through UNHCR)   ⇒Rehabilitation of medical facilities and supply of medical equipment (50,000 beneficiaries). Rehabilitation of schools and extension of classrooms (2,000 beneficiaries). Construction of tube wells and water distribution facilities (18,000 beneficiaries).	USD2.2 million

 

November 17
Education Social Welfare	The project for Developing educational support system for Children with Disabilities in Haripul District   ⇒Support to popularize inclusive education which enables disabled and healthy children study together (1,600 children direct beneficiaries and  5,400 residents indirect beneficiaries).	USD0.44 million

 

December 9
Governance	The Project for strengthening the rule of law in the newly integrated areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for its peace building (through UNDP)   ⇒Construction of police stations, formulation of annual police program and training for the tribal police (7,500 beneficiaries).	USD3.53 million

 

December 11
Health	Polio Eradication Program (through UNICEF)   ⇒The program enables 20 million children who are less than 5 years old be vaccinated.	USD4.49 Million

*Recalculated figure at a rate of 107.9 yen per dollar.

 
 

3. In addition to the above mentioned, the Government of Japan provided USD185 thousand in total as the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects to support the following three development projects on education and social economic development formulated by the NGOs deeply related to Pakistani local communities. 14,000 persons have benefitted through these projects.

• March 11: The project of expanding a public elementary school in Patoki Kasur district, Punjab
• March 11: The Project for Improving Facilities of Girls Primary School Shaikhabad, Peshawar District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• November 6： The Project for Street Pavement in Six Villages UC Beer, District Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 

4. Pakistan has a great potential due to abundant young labor force and a huge economic market. It is also considered as an important country for maintaining and promoting peace and security in the region. Year 2022 will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan. Throughout these years, the Government of Japan has supported Pakistan in its efforts to improve the socio-economic development and it stands committed to continue this support even in the future.

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