January 29, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 19, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: Japan has extended a grant of $6 million to assist in socio-economic development of Fata through the Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA).

The agreement was signed and exchanged between secretary for the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics and Ambassador of Japan Seiji Kojima here on Monday.

Highlighting the efforts of the government to ensure integration of Fata into the overall development of the country, secretary economic affairs said allocation of development resources for the area had increased by the government manifold, adding that Fata still required additional economic resources to address development lag.

He said Japan had been providing assistance to Pakistan in different sectors for the last fifty years and the current aid was yet another step in that direction, which would help facilitate the government's effort for socio-economic uplift of its people.