Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor Khan has said that long-term energy co-operation would translate into a substantive confidence-building measures in South Asia and bring enormous benefits to its people who deserve a much better life than they have been experiencing so far.
He expressed these views while inaugurating the first meeting of Saarc working group on energy here on Wednesday.
The minister said that the Saarc working group on energy has been formed as a part of Saarc Regional Integrated Programme of Action in pursuance of the 12th Saarc summit held at Islamabad in January this year with a view to conduct a study on creating a South Asian Energy Co-operation including the concept of an energy ring.
Chaudhry Nouraiz said that the meeting of energy working group would provide an opportunity to the participants to suggest ways and means for speedy promotion of energy co-operation among the Saarc member states and benefit from each other experience in this vital field of economy.
He said Saarc countries could join Pakistan's oil and gas projects for the mutual advantage.
Secretary Petroleum Ahmed Waqar in his address said that the availability of adequate supplies of energy was a pre requisite to generate and boost economic activity in South Asia in order to catch up with the global economic race.
He observed, this meeting of energy experts, would lay the foundation of a long-lasting and mutually rewarding co-operation in the energy sector of the South Asia Region.
In his welcome address, the Director General HDIP Hilal A. Raza, the leader of host country, said in the present changing global scenario, unlimited opportunities exist for mutual co-operation among Saarc states that would enhance availability of energy in their respective countries.
The Director Saarc, C.A.H.M. Wijeratne, on this occasion read out the message from the Secretary General of Saarc.
He said the prospects for co-operation in the energy sector in the region were tremendous and expressed the confidence that the deliberations would lead to positive outcome beneficial to all the member states of Saarc.-PR