Some 40 international donors on Friday pledged more than US$5 billion in aid over the next two years to Pakistan during a one-day donors conference for the cash-strapped country.

The pledges were made as President Asif Ali Zardari expressed firm resolve of the Pakistani government at the conference to carry out economic reform and counterterrorist measures.

Of the major donors, Japan and the United States offered US$1 billion each in aid to the Southwest Asian country, and Saudi Arabia pledged US$700 million. The European Union undertook to provide US$640 million in aid over the next four years.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2009)