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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister said Thursday that the United Arab Emirates agreed to a $2 billion loan and an additional $1 billion to his country as it struggles to recover from this summer’s devastation. recovering from the sexual flood.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s office after a meeting with UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mohammad agreed to the loan extension and the new loan, it said.
“Both parties agreed to deepen investment cooperation, promote partnerships and create opportunities for investment consolidation,” Sharif’s office said.
The UAE did not immediately acknowledge the extension of the loan and the disbursement of an additional $1 billion. During the meeting at the Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, the two leaders discussed “historic relations between the UAE and Pakistan, and how to strengthen cooperation and expand cooperation horizons in a manner that is in the mutual interest of both countries,” it said.
Sharif’s visit to the UAE marks his third since becoming prime minister last April. The UAE’s seven emirates are home to some 1.7 million Pakistanis, many of them manual laborers who power Pakistan’s economy and send money back to their country.
Sheikh Mohammed was also invited to visit Pakistan. He became leader of the emirate, an authoritarian federation of seven emirates, after the death of his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in May.
Sharif also plans to meet Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum during the two-day visit.
On Wednesday, Sharif said countries and world institutions had pledged $9.7 billion to help Pakistan rebuild from devastating summer floods that killed 1,739 people. The floods destroyed more than 2 million homes and caused more than $30 billion in damage.
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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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