Pakistan‘s strategic and geographical location makes it one of Germany’s most important partners for development cooperation. GIZ (until January 2011 GTZ) has been engaged in Pakistan on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) since the bilateral agreement of 1972 was signed; it opened an on-site office there in 1990. In the wake of 9/11, Pakistan has been accorded the status of a priority country for German development cooperation.

In spite of its great potential, Pakistan faces myriad socio-economic and political problems, including a high rate of illiteracy, poor access to education, health care and political participation and high unemployment along with wide-spread poverty. Women are disadvantaged politically, economically and socially. The alarming destructive exploitation of natural resources and lack of infrastructure result in increased energy supply problems and, due to a lack of transport and storage capacity, large agricultural losses.

Good governance, rule of law and the reliable, poverty-oriented delivery of state services are amongst the most important challenges. With political power concentrated in the hands of a few and entrusted to the underskilled and under-performing at local level, achieving sustainable progress in development is not an easy task, especially when religiously motivated extremists still pose a threat to public safety and natural disasters are such a frequent occurrence.

Geographically speaking, the focus of German development cooperation with Pakistan is on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest of the country.

GIZ’s work centres on the following priority areas:

• Education and vocational training
• Health
• Renewable energies and energy efficiency
• Good governance

Good governance is the pivotal activity area and the objective here is to strengthen development-oriented conditions that will foster spin-off effects in other priority areas.

For a number of years, GIZ has been supporting development and reconstruction efforts in politically sensitive contexts, such as in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan (Federally Administered Tribal Areas – FATA) and in Malakand.

Thanks to GIZ’s longstanding experience, its widely recognised services and presence on site, GIZ has won the support of several co-financers. In the education sector, co-financing agreements exist with the Netherlands, the EU and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The French development organisation Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has agreed to support GIZ activities in the health sector in the FATA region.