The government is exploring all avenues to overcome power crisis and for this purpose will sign final import agreements of 1000 MW with Central Asian Republics next month, Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said in a meeting with Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
Frequent power outages and loadshedding hampering the growth potential of manufacturing and agriculture sectors and we have to explore possibilities for keeping the growth wheel moving, he added. Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and the international financial institutions will sign power purchase agreements.
The minister said to further develop a mechanism for electricity trading between central and South Asian regions a 4-day Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) meeting will be held in the last week of July.
With the establishment of electricity link between CARs and South Asia, economic relation will enhance among the countries in the region, he said, adding that both the countries should exchange delegations to promote tourism, which has great potential between the two countries. Investment opportunities in water, power, transport and trade sectors were also discussed during the meeting.
The Kyrgyz envoy said that his country will provide all possible assistance and technical cooperation in power sector to Pakistan. Need to expedite actions on the decisions taken in last Kyrgyzstan-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission was also stressed.
Earlier, the ambassador of North Korea to Pakistan, H.E Ri Yong Hwan also called on Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and discussed matters of mutual interest especially power sector to further strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.
The Minister welcomed the ambassador and informed him about the current energy crisis in Pakistan. He said that the new political government is determined to facilitate foreign investors and remove all bottlenecks to promote investment in the power sector.