The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has been invited to participate in the two-day conference on 'Emerging Investment Opportunities in the South Asian Power Sector' on March 20-21 at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in New Delhi.
The conference is being jointly organised by the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, USAID South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy (SARI/Energy) and the FICCI, along with American Chambers of Commerce in India and United States Energy Association.
In a letter, the FPCCI has asked the Members, Managing Committee, Member Bodies, Life Members, Patron Members, Members, Executive Committee of Saarc CCI for active participation in the event.
FPCCI officials told Business Recorder that the conference would focus on investment opportunities, highlighting the emerging market structures in South Asian countries, the developing opportunities for cross border electricity trade, and the critical sector regulatory and policy issues that will continue to shape the overall economic development of the region.
Discussions would also include country specific scenarios and projects, developing electricity transmission interconnections, energy trading, and current donor agency and IFI commitments for developing cross border energy infrastructure projects.
FPCCI officials said that the objectives of the events were to discuss recent policy and regulatory initiatives and trends that impact power sector investment and cross-border energy trade. The conference would showcase recent successes and current opportunities in cross border energy infrastructure investment.
It would also discuss integrated investment in cross border energy infrastructure, national generation capacity and energy trading mechanisms. They said that there are many investment opportunities in inter- and intra-regional electricity trade infrastructure. The construction of the electricity transmission systems between Afghanistan and Central Asian neighbours will be completed by the end of 2008.
The integration of Central Asia and South Asia electricity markets is being further strengthened by the current initiative to supply electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan.
Officials said that South Asia is the fastest growing region in the world. With GDP rapidly rising and FDI increasing, growth in manufacturing, industry and commerce is driving energy sector expansion at an unprecedented rate.
The region offers tremendous investment opportunities, and the power sector is emerging as key among those. The governments of South Asia are realising that to increase their energy supply and accomplish some measure of energy security, they must tap the vast potential of the region's energy resources, adapt to global market forces, and upgrade, expand and connect their infrastructure to neighbouring states.
Private sector entities are increasingly involved at all stages of the electricity supply chain, and governments are opening up their practices to facilitate new entrants.