Australia bolsters quake aid by $37m

DHANI (Neelum Valley)—Australia on Wednesday increased its pledge to US$ 37 million dollars in an additional aid to Pakistan to help the country in its recovery efforts after the devastating earthquake of Oct 8. Australian Prime Minister John Howard who visited the 140 Australian troops stationed in the Neelum valley the earthquake “a mammoth disaster” as he announced an additional 50 million Australian dollars (US$ 37 million) to provide relief to the quake affected people.
Howard earlier flew over the quake devastated serene mountainous areas to personally assess the inaccessibility and the scale of destruction. The country’s worst natural calamity claimed over 75,000 lives and rendered over three million shelterless in an area spread over around 28,000 sq kms.
Australia has announced a total contribution of Australian Dollar 14.6 million (US $ 10.6 million) for earthquake relief operations in Pakistan. Howard said 10 million Australian dollars from the additional fund would go for emergency relief through Australian Agency for International Development, and United Nations. The Australian medical team would also cost an additional 20 million Australian dollars over a period of three months.
Prime Minister John Howard has said he would encourage Australian companies to invest in Pakistan and bring their expertise in areas of engineering, mining and agriculture. “The two countries have to build a future and the future is very, very much in partnership in economic growth, development and investment,” he said here at a reception Tuesday night. The Australian Prime Minister who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan also unveiled a plaque establishing offices of the Perth-based Australian engineering and construction company Clough Engineering in Islamabad and Karachi. He said the Australian companies bring great expertise in many areas including engineering, mining and agriculture — three areas which were vital to the future growth and the future development opportunities of Pakistan.
About his talks with the President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz he renewed the commitment of Australia to building a stronger and closer relationship with Pakistan. “We follow the fortunes of this country, placed as it is in the forefront of the war against terrorism with great interest, great sympathy, great understanding and above all great respect for the extraordinary courage that has been displayed”. Howard appreciating the strong economic policies being pursued by the government said he was “greatly impressed” with the strong commitment of its leaders to country’s economic growth and development. “This is not a time for nations to sit on the fence when it comes to economic liberalisation and the embrace of globalisation,” he said. He said countries that fail in attracting foreign investment would unfortunately push their citizens to even lower standards of living in the future.
However those countries which attract foreign investment, and believe that globalisation was really the only option available, can improve and increase the standards of living of its people. Howard said “that is why it is critical for the future of our two countries together that we focus very heavily on encouraging trade and investment”. The Australian Prime Minister who was on his first visit to the country said, the commercial nature of relationship between the two countries was critical to their future ties. Pointing at the commonalities between Australia and Pakistan Howard said they have a lot of history, lot of culture, and the most common of all — sports.—Agencies