Islamabad: Turkey is co-hosting a high-level workshop on institutional capacity building aimed at rallying support through the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) platform.
The two-day event which opens today will consider long-term institutional partnerships between various institutions in Pakistan and their counterpart organisations in FoDP countries.
Egypt and Switzerland recently joined the 26-member bloc, which was formed in April 2009 to support democratic institutions and compensate losses that Pakistan has suffered as a front line state in the war against militancy.
Senator Syeda Sughra Imam is leading a 9-member delegation comprising heads and senior representatives of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, National School of Public Policy, Higher Education Commission, Alternative Energy Development Board, National Vocational and Technical Education Commission, and National Policy Academy to the event.
Delegates from the country will give presentations on agriculture, security, governance, education, technical education and energy among other topics.
Future agenda to be set
The meeting in Ankara will set the future agenda of substantive collaboration between institutions in Pakistan and FoDP countries and organisations. Besides the Malakand rehabilitation and reconstruction project, the ‘Integrated energy sector report and plan' has been completed under the FoDP Forum by the Asian Development Bank. A detailed report on the water sector is due in December under the same arrangement.
