Pakistan has great potential for development: Italian envoy

ISLAMABAD: Italian Ambassador Vicenzo Prati said that European countries should pay more attention to Pakistan, as it has great potential to develop.

"Pakistan has great potential to be a big entity in coming years and the EU countries should consider it for economic partnership for the future," Prati told journalists at his residence on Tuesday.

The ambassador explained at length last month's G8 summit and G8 foreign ministers' meeting with foreign ministers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries in the region. He said Pakistan had a great opportunity to convey its viewpoint to the G8 members.

Prati supported Pakistan's fight against terrorism and said, "We respect Pakistan's decision to fight the militants". However, he said only fighting against the Taliban was not enough to end terrorism, and people should be provided better opportunities and living conditions. He said Italy had pledged an assistance of $62 million at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP) conference in Tokyo and it was working with Pakistan to provide the funds. He said $40 million would be used for micro-credit schemes, $20 million for vocational training and $2 million for olive cultivation in Pakistan.

The envoy said the G8 summit was a great success as US President Barack Obama supported the initiative to protect the environment. He said the summit also announced $20 billion in aid for African countries. He said G8 – an exclusive club of rich nations – was opened for developing nations for the first time. The ambassador said Italy had provided a forum for Pakistan during the summit to get it in the spotlight.