PR. No. 214/2009

Date: 29/05/2009   

INTER-MINISTERIAL MEETING ON FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC PAKISTAN (FODP)

An inter-ministerial meeting on FODP related matters was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi . The meeting was attended by Senator Syeda Sughra Imam and representatives of the relevant Ministries and Divisions. The meeting took note of the progress made since the FODP Ministerial Meeting which was held at Tokyo on 17 April 2009.

The Foreign Minister emphasized to carry forward the FODP process in a robust and concerted manner so that tangible results could be achieved for the people of Pakistan. He asked various Ministries to fully operationalize Working Groups on FODP clusters, namely, Development, Energy, Institution-Building, Security and Trade. 

To work on project-to- project basis with the FODP Group, the Foreign Minister urged the concerned Ministries and Divisions to expeditiously finalize technical details of the proposed projects with the view to making ongoing discussions with the FODP countries/institutions result-oriented.

It was decided to increase meaningful interaction with the Friends Group. In this regard, the FODP Secretariat (established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has been asked to look into the avenues of public-private partnerships for the realization of various projects on fast-track basis.

The President of Pakistan had launched the FODP initiative in September 2008 in New York. Subsequently, High Officials Meetings were held in Abu Dhabi. The FODP Ministerial Meeting was held at Tokyo on 17 April, 2009, which was presided over by the President of Pakistan himself.

Islamabad
29 May 2009