ANKARA: Turkish Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Taner in a
meeting here with Ambassador of Pakistan Muhammad Haroon Shaukat assured
full support of his government for initiating various development and
investment projects in the energy sector.
The meeting took place in the
backdrop of the forthcoming Turkey visit of the Prime Minister of
Pakistan.
Haroon Shaukat recalled the recent successful “Pakistan
Energy Forum” which the Pakistan Embassy organized in Istanbul. Senior
officials from Pakistan briefed the leading Turkish energy sector
executives about the huge energy market in Pakistan and the incentives
offered by Pakistan to investors.
Haroon informed that Pakistan
Energy Forum was instrumental in sensitizing the Turkish investors about
various projects in hydel, coal, and renewable energy sectors.
Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed an
agreement to invest $245 million on improving the country's power
distribution systems.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD)
Nargis Sethi and ADB's Country Director for Pakistan Dr. Werner E.
Liepach signed the loan agreement.
"The investment will help
upgrade Pakistan's aging power distribution infrastructure allowing
power generated to reach the consumers," said Werner Leapach, while
speaking on the occasion.
"These power projects to be completed by
June 2016 will augment the network and improve performance of the power
distribution system, which is critical to increase the overall energy
efficiency and to bridge the widening energy gap in Pakistan," he added.
The
loan is meant for Tranche-3 of the Power Distribution Enhancement
Investment Program under the Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF).
The
MFF was approved in 2008 to invest $810 million ($800 million OCR and
$10 million ADF) in priority areas to improve distribution systems and
help Pakistan meet its pressing energy needs.
The program aims to rehabilitate, augment and expand power distribution systems and remove system bottlenecks.
"Success
of the project depends on effective and timely implementation;
therefore, we will continue to focus on timely completion of the power
distribution enhancement projects," said Nargis Sethi.
She urged
the agencies and distribution companies involved to make sure that the
targets are achieved within the implementation time frame.
Senior
Project Officer (Energy) at ADB's Pakistan office, Adnan Tareen said the
project would add 1,881 megavolt-amperes (MVA) of transformer capacity,
791 kilometers (km) of new transmission lines and up-gradation of 399
km of the existing transmission lines, which would bring stability in
the distribution network.
The first tranche of $252 million ($242
million OCR and $10 million ADF) and second tranche of $242 million were
released on January 13, 2009 and 28 January 2011, respectively.
Under the existing four MFFs, the ADB is investing $2.9 billion in Pakistan's power sector over a ten year period (2008-2017).
ADB,
based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the
Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable
growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67
members -- 48 from the region.
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