January 18, 2002	Friday	Ziqa'ad 3, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz is scheduled to leave for Japan on Friday to attend the meeting of ‘Steering Group on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan’ to be held in Tokyo from Jan 21-22.

“I will be announcing $100 million help for Afghanistan during the Tokyo conference”, the minister told newsmen on Wednesday.

He said the amount would be disbursed over a period of five years and would include cash grant and a credit line for technical and project assistance in the fields to be identified by the Afghan government within the UNDP-World Bank-ADB framework.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry will also go with the finance minister.

Many countries may contribute for the cause at the conference which is based on World Bank assessment report estimating $9 billion for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in five years.

Mr Aziz also said that a meeting of the Pakistan Development Forum, previously known as the Aid to Pakistan Consortium, would be held in May in Paris to discuss Pakistan’s economy.

He clarified that it would not be a pledging session as it used to be during the annual meetings of the defunct consortium.