New York, Sep 22 (Inditop.com) Former US president Bill Clinton has promised to help Pakistan secure much-needed foreign investment for its economic growth and the well-being of its people.
At a meeting here with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Monday, the former US president, who heads the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), said his organisation would work with Pakistan’s private and public sectors in furthering those objectives, APP news agency reported.
Clinton also said he would soon visit Pakistan, Zardari’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said.
The CGI works with the private sector, NGOs and global leaders to effectively confront the world’s most pressing problems.
Briefing reporters on the 40-minute Clinton-Zardari meeting, Babar said Zardari was especially keen on meeting Clinton since this year’s action areas of CGI were of interest to Pakistan, including strengthening of infrastructure, building of human capital and women’s emancipation.
Zardari also urged Clinton to launch projects for small- and medium-sized dams to help Pakistan meet its pressing water and energy needs.
In this context, he noted that 13 dam sites had been identified for this purpose, five of them in Balochistan, four in Sindh and two each in Punjab and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
In addition, Zardari proposed that CGI consider awarding scholarships to 10 brilliant Pakistani students for studies in US educational institutions.
In the context of building infrastructure, Zardari told Clinton that he welcomed the US move of setting up an energy task force and looked forward to an energy dialogue during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan next month.
