Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that a total amount of $8.57 billion was secured in commitments in the first plenary of the day-long ‘International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan’ in Geneva. The second plenary commenced with Saudi Arabia committing $1 billion and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank pledging $ 1 billion. In a massively positive development, the chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group pledged $4.2 billion for flood rehabilitation and reconstruction in Pakistan. Pakistan’s ability to recover from the large-scale disaster will hinge on the speed of these actions, PM Shehbaz Sharif has said. He stated that the scale of the financial burden on Pakistan from floods is $33 billion which is 8% of the country’s GDP.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto urged the international community to help the country in flood recovery and rehabilitation. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar: “We urgently need short-term financing”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “massive investments” to help Pakistan recover from floods. IsDB Group Chairman Muhammad Al Jasser pledged $4.2 billion on behalf of the institution over the next three years. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged $10 million in additional aid support.
Even so, Around 450 participants from some 40 countries registered for the event, including representatives of the World Bank and several multilateral development banks.
