Briefs
FrontLines - November 2009
Vietnam Offered
Typhoon Relief
WASHINGTON—Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton on
Oct. 1 offered Vietnam aid for
typhoon victims during talks
here with Vietnamese Foreign
Minister Pham Gia Khiem,
Agence France Presse reported.
“I want to start by expressing
the deepest sympathy of
the United States for the loss
of life and destruction of property
caused across so many
countries through the impact
of Typhoon Ketsana,” Clinton
told reporters.
Vietnam intensified efforts
to get food to stranded victims
of the typhoon, which killed at
least 92 people and left 19 missing,
according to official figures.
It was one of the worst disasters
to hit the country in years.
EU Revamps
Afghan Aid
LUXEMBOURG—EU foreign
ministers agreed Oct. 27 to
overhaul Europe’s joint civilian
aid strategy in Afghanistan,
promising to deliver better and
more effective aid to stabilize
the country, the Associated Press
reported.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt acknowledged the
EU’s current aid plan is not
working well amid widespread
corruption and increased fighting
between Taliban and insurgent
forces against NATO troops.
“There has to be a new start,”
Bildt said. “There has to be a dedicated,
credible reform strategy
by the Afghan authorities.”
The bloc’s 27 foreign ministers
backed a new strategy which holds
Afghan officials accountable for
the use of European aid money
and said they would help any credible
government that emerges out
of the Nov. 7 presidential runoff.
The EU as a whole already
spends some $1 billion a year in
aid and development assistance
in Afghanistan, and member
states have spent more than $13
billion in aid to Afghanistan
since 2002, mostly in propping
up the government’s finances
and supporting U.N. projects.
Clinton Announces
Energy Aid to
Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton on Oct. 28 announced
a $125 million package that
targets repairs and improvements
to the Pakistani energy
grid, United Press International
reported.
Clinton met with Pakistani
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi in Islamabad on a day
that a massive suicide bombing
in Peshawar killed more than
80 people.
She noted that Pakistan needs
“partners in infrastructure and
in health and in education and
energy.” The $125 million package
targets repairs to power
generation facilities, improves
the effectiveness of local utilities,
and promotes overall energy efficiency,
the State Department said.
Included in the program are
updates to a hydroelectric power
station and rehabilitation of several
thermal power stations.
The energy package comes
on the heels of a significant aid
package for Pakistan that focuses
on economic and educational
development. That measure
also authorizes U.S. military
assistance to help Pakistan in its
fight against al-Qaida and other
insurgents, focusing specifically
on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism
measures.
China Pledges
$10 Billion in Loans
to Africa
SHARM EL-SHEIKH,
Egypt—Chinese Prime
Minister Wen Jiabao on Nov. 8
pledged to give Africa $10 billion
in loans, AFP reported.
“We will help Africa build
up its financing capabilities…
We will provide $10 billion
(U.S.) for Africa in concessional
loans,” Wen told a
Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation held in Sharm
el-Sheikh.
He also said China would
cancel debts of African
countries to increase his
country’s role in the continent.
Previously, he pledged
$5 billion in assistance over
three years at the last Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation
summit, held in Beijing in
2006, and has signed agreements
to relieve or cancel the
debt of 31 African nations.
Chinese direct investment
in Africa soared from $491
million in 2003 to $7.8 billion
in 2008. Total trade between
China and Africa topped $100
billion in 2008—a tenfold
increase in eight years.
★
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