Grant for Pakistan Indus River Flood Protection and Embankment Project

The Government of Japan will provide grant aid for the purchase of necessary goods and services to implement the Indus River Flood Protection and Embankment Improvement Project in Sindh Province, Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The governments of both countries exchanged notes in Islamabad on September 7, 2026, and the summary was published in the Official Gazette on October 6, 2026, as Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice No. 305. The notice was issued by Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi.

Framework of the Exchange of Notes and Publication in the Official Gazette

This cooperation is positioned as a grant etc. based on an exchange of notes between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In the table of contents of the Official Gazette, it is organized under Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice No. 305 as “Matter concerning the exchange of notes between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan regarding a grant etc. for the Indus River Flood Protection and Embankment Improvement Project in Sindh Province.”

The exchange of notes took place on September 7, 2026, in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice No. 305 published the following four items as a summary:

• Purpose and content of cooperation: Purchase of goods and services necessary to implement the Indus River Flood Protection and Embankment Improvement Project in Sindh Province
• Maximum amount of grant etc.: 2,585,000,000 yen
• Deadline for provision of grant etc.: December 31, 2034
• Signatories: Japan side Shuichi Akamatsu, Ambassador to Pakistan; Pakistan side Muhammad Humair Karim, Secretary of the Ministry of Economics

Maximum Amount of 2.585 Billion Yen and Provision Deadline

The maximum amount of the grant etc. indicated in the notice is 2,585,000,000 yen. The deadline for provision is set for December 31, 2034, establishing the framework within which the procurement of goods and services subject to the cooperation will be carried out.

The content of the cooperation consists of the purchase of goods and services necessary for the implementation of the flood protection and embankment improvement project, taking the form of the Japanese side providing funds to support procurement. The target area is Sindh Province, which encompasses the Indus River basin, and the pillars of the project are responding to flood damage and strengthening the functionality of embankments.

Signatories and Positioning of Bilateral Cooperation

The notes were signed by Shuichi Akamatsu, Ambassador to Pakistan on the Japanese side, and Muhammad Humair Karim, Secretary of the Ministry of Economics on the Pakistani side. The fact that the contact point on the Pakistani side is the Secretary of the Ministry of Economics indicates that this matter is being handled within the framework of the country’s economic and development policies.

The notification was published in the “Other Notifications” section of the Official Gazette dated October 6, 2026, alongside Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notification No. 303 (Exchange of Notes concerning the extension of the disbursement period for the Yen Loan to the Republic of Ghana) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notification No. 304 (Partial withdrawal of certain reservations to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The Official Gazette of the same day also contains notifications from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and notifications related to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Cooperation Directly Linked to Disaster Prevention Infrastructure Development in Affected Areas

Sindh Province is a region where damage caused by flooding of the Indus River has been a recurring issue, and the improvement of embankments is directly linked to the safety of residents and the maintenance of economic activities. This grant aid provides financial support for the development of disaster prevention infrastructure in the affected areas, and it is significant that it was announced as a concrete project of Japan’s cooperation with Pakistan.

With the maximum amount and the grant deadline clearly specified, the framework for the project scale and implementation period has been finalized. Moving forward, attention will be focused on the progress of procurement based on the letter and the implementation status of flood defense and embankment improvement works in Sindh Province.

Source: Published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notification No. 305 “Exchange of Letters between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan concerning the Grant etc. for the Indus River Flood Protection and Embankment Improvement Project in Sindh Province” (Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi).