LAHORE: The US is keen to strengthen the infrastructure, education, energy and health sectors of Pakistan and would also allocate funds for these sectors, US Coordinator for Non-Military Assistance to Pakistan Robin Raphel said on Tuesday while talking to a selective group of journalists.
She said that the US wants to fund programmes associated with infrastructure development and energy. Raphel said that the federal and provincial governments would be contacted in this regard and empowered for utilising these funds.
The US diplomat, who visited Pakistan for the first time in 1975, said that $1.5 billion per annum would be given to Pakistan in three major areas including infrastructure development. She said that working with Pakistani institutions and targeting areas where the government writ was not strong such as FATA remained a primary goal.
Raphel told journalists that in the past, the US was involved in many development projects such as the construction of the Tarbela and Mangla dams and would continue to strengthen Pakistan’s infrastructure. She said that energy was vital for Pakistan’s economic development and US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke had realised this fact when he visited a school in Karachi where students were studying without electricity.
Raphel said that international agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and others had a very strong distribution system but services of these agencies were very expensive and the US was focusing on assisting the federal and provincial governments directly, which have good infrastructure.
The US diplomat stressed upon the need to rationalise the subsidy given on electricity, as there was a gap between the production cost and price at which electricity was being sold. “There is no targeted subsidy in electricity, as the poor and rich get equal rates,” she said adding that there was also a need to revolutionise the education system of Pakistan.
“The provincial governments are doing their best to solve the problems related to the education sector and have taken series of steps such as making sure that teachers turn up at schools,” Raphel said adding that health services were another priority of the US.
