WASHINGTON, Oct 23: US President George W. Bush has asked Congress for $60 million for the development of tribal areas in Pakistan.

During a visit to Islamabad in March last year, President Bush had announced an initiative to establish reconstruction opportunity zones (ROZs) as part of a plan to bring economic progress to the tribal region bordering Pakistan an Afghanistan.

The initiative aims at promoting economic growth by providing tariff-free access to the US market for goods produced in these specially-designated areas. ROZs will also be established in the areas destroyed in a major earthquake two years ago.

A US team travelled to Pakistan in August last year to study the probability of setting up industries in the tribal zone and later submitted a report to the US Congress and officials.

Earlier this month, a team of traders and investors from Pakistan visited Washington for talks with US lawmakers and officials on the issue.

The US Congress is expected to take up shortly a piece of legislation necessary to allow a duty-free access to US markets for products from these specially-designated areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.