|
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Armm to receive US$400.6M more foreign aid: DA
KORONADAL CITY -- Some $400.5 million worth of financial assistance will be extended by foreign countries for the development of the impoverished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), Agriculture Sec. Luis Lorenzo Jr. said.
Lorenzo said Japan has vowed to infuse some $400 million for infrastructure and social development projects in the Armm, considered as the country's poorest region.
The agriculture secretary added that the European Union (EU) has pledged 500,000 euros (roughly $600,000) to fund the needs of civilians displaced by the recent strife in Mindanao, including health services and livelihood projects.
"Armm, the poorest and least economically developed area in the country, stands to receive billions of pesos worth of development assistance from overseas supporters like Japan, Europe and the World Bank as part of their commitment to help improve the lives of people in southern Philippines," Lorenzo said in a statement.
The World Bank earlier committed $33.6 million for the Armm Social Fund, a five-year program that offers loans to residents of 600 barangays in 94 towns in the region.
The fund also provides access to social services such as potable water supply, health clinics and farm-to-market roads.
Lorenzo said the pledges of Japan and the EU were part of their contribution to the peace process in Mindanao, following the willingness of the government and the MILF to seal a final peace pact aimed at attending to the decades-old Mindanao problem.
In particular, Lorenzo said that Japan wants to see an end to the conflict to develop the full potential of Armm as a business destination.
Government and MILF leaders earlier agreed to resume the stalled formal peace negotiations, expected to resume next month in Malaysia.
Apart from the funds promised by Japan and the EU, US President George W. Bush also pledged at least $30 million for the development of war-torn areas in Mindanao.
President Bush said the fund would be released once a final peace agreement is sealed by the government and the MILF, so far the largest armed Islamic group in the predominantly Christian southern Philippines.
(September 26, 2003 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[ return
to top ]
[ home
]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
