President, Asif Ali Zardari will address World Future Energy Summit on Monday. He will be among the key speakers that will highlight future challenges and propose strategies in the energy sector at the event.
Sources told APP here that President Zardari has been specially invited to attend the conference keeping in view Pakistan's important position in the region and the specific problem the country is facing in the energy sector.
During his two-day stay in the UAE capital, he will have hectic engagements. He is likely to hold meetings with the participating world leaders on the sidelines of the summit. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meeting with General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Pakistan's delegation attending the summit also includes Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf.
World leaders including heads of state and government, along with United Nation's Secretary General and other officials are assembling here to discuss renewable energy issues at the four-day World Future Energy Summit or WFES-2011, Abu Dhabi's flagship annual show. The largest gathering of the renewable energy bigwigs from the world, the WFES-2011 will be hosted by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company or Masdar, on the theme `Enabling Future Energy Solutions'.
The summit will run from January 17-20 and comprises a four-day conference, alongside two exhibitions - a World Future Energy Exhibition and World Future Environment Exhibition. Over 600 companies and institutions from 14 countries engaged in renewable energy will showcase their projects and technologies before an anticipated 25,000 strong visitors from 100 countries.
The opening ceremony of the conference has drawn global leaders including Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland and President Asif Ali Zardari. The heads of government, who will share their vision with over 1,000 attendees at the conference, will include Jose Socrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, Prime Minister of Portugal, Shaikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; and Nikoloz Gilauri, Prime Minister of Georgia. According to organisers, Guillaume, Crown Prince of Luxembourg and Crown Princess Victoria, Princess of Sweden, are confirmed to be taking part in the opening ceremony.
Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations will make his first appearance at the event, which closely follows the recent progress made to renew international efforts to combat climate change during talks at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancun, Mexico, from 29 November-10 December 2010.