PESHAWAR - Donald Blome, the US ambassador to Pakistan, on Thursday announced the $24 million, five-year Economic Recovery and Development Activity (ERDA), which aims to increase economic possibilities in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In addition to the agricultural sector, the project will focus on four other sectors that have great potential to create new jobs and generate additional income, which are: mines and minerals; tourism; information and communication technology, and the social services sector. In his introductory remarks at the project’s inaugural event, the ambassador claimed that after the 2010 floods, the US government “helped restore the irrigation water supply to the hardest-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, enabling farmers to produce wheat and avoid food poverty”. He said the project being inaugurated was a continuation of the collaboration between the United States and Pakistan to drive economic progress and provide a better future for its citizens. In the newly combined districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he claimed that since 2014, the US government, through USAID, has assisted more than one million displaced people in rebuilding their agricultural livelihoods. He also stated that the US government has committed roughly $200 million in flood relief and recovery in preparation for the 2022 floods.
Tessori vows to continue consultations with stakeholders for economic stability