France to the rescue with int'l conference for flood-hit Pak

New York, Sep 21

France has stepped forth to assist in the revival of Pakistan's economy and its reconstruction in the wake of devastating floods, with an international conference this year.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and French President Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Tuesday, Geo News reported.

Besides the exchange of views on the enhancement of bilateral relations, the two leaders spoke about mobilising international support for Pakistan to help recover and rebuild its economy on a sustainable footing in the aftermath of the climate change induced floods.

In order to gather the relevant International Financial partners and development partners, France will host an international conference before the end of the year aiming at contributing to the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of flood-affected areas of Pakistan and, with the help of climate-resilient reconstruction-related financing, to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, Geo News reported.

The premier also had a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of the UNGA.

Shehbaz stressed the need for deepening the multifaceted Pakistan-Spain relations with a particular emphasis on inter-parliamentary ties as well as security and defence cooperation.

The Spanish Prime Minister called for bilateral collaboration in the energy sector and people-to-people links.

Sanchez underlined that Pakistan was among the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change.

He hoped the international community would step up and help mitigate the adverse effects of the floods through active participation in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.