US$100 million gift for UAE-backed projects in Pakistan

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development boosts Pakistan projects with $100 million gift.

ABU DHABI // UAE-funded projects in Pakistan received another boost as an additional US$100 million (Dh367m) was granted for health care, education and road projects.

The money, given by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, was passed to the UAE projects in Pakistan team during a signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Since 2011, the team has been working on the ground with a total of $162m from the fund, building 43 schools, 10 universities and colleges, seven hospitals and clinics, a nursing institute and a number of roads and bridges.

The first phase of completion has been set for the end of this year, with many projects finishing earlier than expected.

The bulk of the money signed off on yesterday - Dh223m - will be used to complete the building of roads and bridges, two of which were destroyed during the 2010 floods.

"The grant from Sheikh Khalifa was to rebuild the bridges up to the highest standards, able to withstand any natural disaster," said Abdullah Al Ghaffli, head of UAE projects in Pakistan. "We also opened a new border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is already in use. There was no link between the two borders before."

The Makeen-Miranshah road, linking South and North Waziristan, including three major cities and 20 villages, will be the first paved road in the region, the fund said.

About Dh46m will be pumped into the education sector with three vocational colleges coming soon. The 1,000-bed Emirate Hospital in Islamabad, the largest hospital in the country, will receive Dh92m for completion.

Once finished, it will cater to 6,000 walk-in patients a day.

Mr Al Ghaffli said a refurbished educational institute and hospital will be ready for handover as early as next week.

"Schools that were in the form of tents and house rooftops are buildings now," he said. "Fully furnished and complete with a computer lab. This has opened the door for pupils to get educated and learn new skills. This has also helped to encourage parents to enrol their children in schools."

He said a problem before was the need to travel long distances on rocky roads to get to a school. With so many new schools being built, pupils now have better access.

Currently, the 43 UAE-funded schools cater to 30,000 pupils from across the country. "And provided pupils with all they would need, including school bags," said Mr Al Ghaffli. "These projects led to the opportunity for community development, helping families get higher income and helping people fight poverty - to see a dream turn into a reality."

About Dh60m from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has been spent this year and last year to provide food to 63,000 families, most of them internally displaced. The total amount the fund has spent on projects in Pakistan is Dh1 billion.

"Relations with Pakistan go back to 1981," said Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, ADFD's acting general manager. "We still have an additional $130m to spend on projects in Pakistan. We first study proposals, extensively research. We let countries present what they want and evaluate how these projects will help people and the country's economy."

Mr Al Suwaidi said the fund preferred to work on projects such as roads, electricity and water, education and health care. Its first project in Pakistan was Tarbela Dam. The fund provided a loan of Dh66m and the dam has helped provide residents with electricity.