ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the European Union opened a new chapter in their development partnership on Monday, signing three grant agreements totaling €65 million, roughly Rs20.64 billion, aimed at drawing foreign investment, bringing renewable power to off-grid villages and widening access to justice.
The agreements, signed by EU Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis and Economic Affairs Division Secretary Muhammad Humair Karim, fall under the EU’s Multiannual Indicative Programme for 2021-2027 and touch three corners of Pakistan’s development puzzle.
Under the first program, Global Gateway development facilitation for Pakistan, the focus is on the money that never arrives — the foreign investment that stays away when tax systems are tangled and long-term financial planning is weak. The project seeks to smooth both.
The second, Energy and Natural Environment Resilience in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reaches into rural.
