Germany has signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan to promote, in partnership with the Ministry of Water and Power, a programme to develop and utilise the vast hydro power potential in Pakistan.

The programme will provide technical assistance until 2002 for those institutions of Pakistan which have been active in this sector, with the aim that the concerned agencies will carry on the development themselves after 2002. The assistance programme includes:

•Co-ordination and active support for the development of hydroelectric power through the Ministry of Water and Power.

•Preparation of further feasibility studies for the construction of hydroelectric stations in selected locations.

•Completion of Pakistan’s hydroelectric power inventories, especially collecting information in the Chitral Valley in the Northwest Frontier Province beside the river Indus and its tributaries upstream.

•Preparation of a comprehensive database for the development of hydroelectric power which is centrally administered and accessible.

•Enhancement of the executing organisations necessary for the development of hydro power at federal and provincial levels.