Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz signed the LoI in Islamabad that was inked by his British counterpart Tony Blair in London. The agreement will cover UK grant assistance of 235 million pounds (approximately $400 million) over the period of three years.
The development partnership between the government and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) will target poverty alleviation, creating income-generating opportunity for poor and improving services delivery.
"The long-term commitment signifies the confidence the British government has in our policies to reduce poverty," Shaukat said after the signing ceremony attended by British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
The long-term partnership also indicated the British government's commitment to help Pakistan in achieving better health care, better education, empowerment of women and in fighting hunger and disease, he added.
The prime minister said that the country's economy was on the rise and the government was working to pass on the benefits of high growth down to the grass roots level. "This was already happening," he said and referred to the 6.5 percent reduction in poverty level.
He said as the majority of the country's population lived in the rural areas, the one good way to fighting poverty was through increasing level of agriculture income. The government, he added, was working on a host of programmes to help the farmers in increasing their income through major and minor crops, fisheries, etc, which in turn would help the country in moving forward on the road to progress and prosperity.
Shaukat termed the DFID as an excellent partner of Pakistan in its efforts to alleviate poverty and improve development. He also thanked the British government for the earthquake relief assistance and their commitment to help Pakistan in the rehabilitation of the people ravaged by the October 8 earthquake.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the signing of the MoU indicated his country's long-term commitment and keenness to work closely with the Pakistani government to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said the government's policies were leading to poverty reduction and the British government wanted to help Pakistan in achieving the desired goals.