Japan and Pakistan on Thursday signed a loan agreement worth $24 million for the first phase of implementation of Islamabad-Burhan Transmission Line Reinforcement Project.
The Ambassador of Japan Takashi Kurai, and Additional Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Anjum Assad Amin signed the loan documents. State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Nobuo Kishi and Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif witnessed the signing ceremony.
Japan Cooperation Agency (JICA) will implement the loan project, with an objective to improve the reliability of the national grid and to meet the growing demand for electricity transmission through reinforcement of transmission lines necessary for power supply to the Islamabad capital territory and its surrounding areas, thereby contributing to the improvement of the economic infrastructure of Pakistan.
The scope of the project includes civil work and equipment for transmission lines of 220 kv between the Tarbela Hydropower Plant and the Burhan sub-station. Japan has provided the loan on very concessional terms, with an interest rate of Japanese Yen LIBOR plus 10 basis point (equivalent to 0.12 percent) and repayment during 30 years, including a 10 year grace period.
The minister for water and power said that Pakistan values Japan’s assistance in the field of energy and Japan’s economic cooperation has played an imperative role in development of socio economic sector with main focus on human uplift, poverty reduction and capacity building of our institutions. The total loan assistance from Japan stands at $ 960 million and grant at $ 156 million.
Prior to the signing ceremony the Japanese minister met the minister for water and power. During the meeting the Khawaja Asia emphasized that Pakistan looks forward to further economic cooperation with Japan for the benefit of the people of Pakistan in line with government’s priorities and strategy. He explained that Pakistan is fast improving its energy basket and has introduced investor friendly policies to attract large number of investment in the energy sector.
The minister said Pakistan’s efforts to benefiting from renewable resources of energy is highly appreciated at all forums. He said that the new energy mix introduced by the government is quite rich and has the potential to bring down the prices of electricity in the country. He invited Japanese entrepreneurs to invest in the potential energy sector of Pakistan.
The minister applauded the Japan Pakistan cooperation in various fields, especially mentioning the Japanese assistance in power sector. The Japanese minister assured that Japan will continue to work with Pakistan in various fields. He said that Japan looks forward to having even warmer than now relations between the two counties.
