May 25, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 24: The Japanese government has pledged to provide a grant of $44.3 million for two projects. Charge d’Affairs of the Japanese embassy Hiroshi Azuma and Secretary, Economic Affairs Division Khalid Saeed, signed and exchanged official notes on behalf of their respective governments to this effect here on Wednesday, a statement issued by the Japanese embassy said.

“The assistance is a manifestation of Japan’s commitment to building a sustainable society in Pakistan”, the statement said.

“Japan will remain a strong development partner to Pakistan as long as the latter strives towards the goal of a democratically free society and economy”, it added.

Of the total grant, $36.3 million will be used for improvement of the 96-kilometre Kararo-Wadh section of the 813- kilometre National Highway (N-25) in Balochistan which is an important road that connects Karachi to Chaman via Quetta.

The importance of N-25 is growing as it links Afghanistan and neighbouring countries to the port city of Karachi by the shortest route.

The project involves widening of the road to 7.3 metre and the formation of road shoulders extending two metre on both sides to ensure proper pavement rehabilitation/construction of cross drainage structure/bridges along with proper installation of traffic signs, guard rails and other road safety measures.

The second project for which the Japanese government has agreed to provide $8 million grant-in-aid is enhancement of training capabilities of the Construction Machinery Training Institute (CMTI).

The grant is aimed at supporting the Pakistan Government’s effort to develop human resources.

“Ensuring human security and human development is one of the priority areas of Japan’s Country Assistance Programme in Pakistan”, the statement said.

Japan plans to provide the project’s main components, including construction machinery such as bulldozers, hydraulic excavators, motor graders, crane simulators for training purposes; equipment for implementing new training courses along with PCs for CAD/CAM and for general usage; and construction of infrastructure facilities such as building of a new training campus, accommodation for trainees and a canteen.

CMTI was established in 1986 through Japan’s grant assistance. Over the years, CMTI has risen as an institute of international repute not only playing a valuable role for developing human resources within Pakistan, but also imparts training to participants from 20 other South Asian and African countries, sponsored by JICA since 1995.

The project will directly benefit road construction work force in mastering new technologies and thus meeting the current demand for a skilled labour force since Pakistan has undertaken enormous task of reconstructing the road infrastructure in earthquake-hit areas.

The project will help boost the overall economy by ensuring smooth implementation of road infrastructure development projects indirectly.