WASHINGTON: A two-day conference on Pakistan’s clean energy sector is being held in Washington from Dec 1.
According to an official, the conferences, hosted by USAID, will be attended by American, international, and Pakistani clean energy project developers and investors. The event will be held at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.
Launched earlier this year, the US-Pakistan Clean Energy Partnership seeks to advance energy sector reforms, improve Pakistan’s investment framework, and ultimately add 3,000 megawatts of clean energy by 2019.
USAID’s Assistant to the Administrator for Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs Larry Sampler, Pakistan’s Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani will provide opening remarks on the first day of the conference.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador +Richard Olson, Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and other senior Government of Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has emphasized the importance of energy as one of the government’s critical priorities. Energy demand is expected to double by 2030. The holding of the conference was agreed during the visit of the Prime Minister to the United States in October.
The conference will support significant new private sector investments in Pakistan in clean energy generation, transmission, and distribution. Since 2009, the United States and Pakistan have established intense cooperation on energy, coordinated through the Energy Working Group under the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue.
Recognizing the ecognising the critical importance of increasing energy security and access in a clean, sustainable manner, the United States has committed more than $1 billion to date to support energy sector investments and reforms in cooperation with the Government of Pakistan.
