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SAARC Energy Conference concludes

Energy cooperation will boost economies

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The government has considers energy cooperation among SAARC countries as an important element of the socio-economic development in South Asia.

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Syed Naveed Qamar expressed these views on concluding 8 national SAARC Energy Conference here on Friday. He commended the successful hosting of the Energy conference and its successful conclusion since it began on November 3.

He expressed satisfaction over the full participation of all member states of the association, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the meetings and their interaction with energy professionals of Pakistan, courtesy of his Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources as well as on the performance of SAARC Energy Center located in Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan.

The minister said that Pakistan had taken the initiative of hosting the SAARC Energy Center with a view to provide a platform for initiating, coordinating and facilitating regional, joint and collective activities in the energy sector of South Asia for economic growth and development of the region.

The minister complimented the Governing Board of the SAARC Energy Center for taking up many important projects in the areas of energy trade, energy efficiency, renewable energy including bio-diesel and bio-ethanol, joint import of crude oil, rural electrification, gas and power interconnection grid, development of non-conventional hydrocarbons, labeling and standardization of energy appliances, preparation of common template for power exchanges, sharing of best practices, capacity building and technology transfer.

The efforts of the Director of the Center Hilal A. Raza as well as Irshad Kaleemi, the joint-secretary development of the ministry who represented Pakistan in the two daily sessions of meetings at the conference were also appreciated in the context of the performance of the Center in the field of energy that had also been recognized internationally.

The minister expressed pleasure that the SAARC Energy Center had already entered into agreement with the ASEAN Center for energy with a view to extend the frontiers of energy cooperation beyond the SAARC, and to learn from the experiences of the ASEAN region in the field of energy cooperation.

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