China to keep providing assistance to Pakistan’s power sector

Power Division decides to meet all CPEC investors individually to boost cooperation

ISLAMABAD: The Power Division has decided to meet individually all investors pouring money into energy projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in order to help fast-track work on these projects and remove any difficulties being faced by them.

Federal Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari announced this during a meeting with China Ambassador Yao Jing.

All power-sector stakeholders, including the Private Power Infrastructure Board, Alternative Energy Development Board and National Transmission and Despatch Company will be part of the dialogue with the investors.



While appreciating the contribution of Chinese investors to the power projects, Leghari said CPEC was the epic of relations between the two countries and in times to come the cooperation would go up to new heights.

The minister invited suggestions from the Chinese ambassador for the planned meetings with the investors.

Highlighting the importance of power distribution companies and a proposed law that was likely to be enacted soon for private-sector participation in electricity distribution, Leghari invited Chinese investors to participate in consumer services as the country had managed to bridge the demand-supply gap with their help.

He insisted that service delivery through distribution companies would offer lucrative returns. Speaking on the occasion, Yao said the performance of Pakistan’s power sector under CPEC was a success story, which had been acknowledged at different forums in China.

He mentioned the Power Division’s role in leading CPEC projects and facilitating the Chinese investors. According to the ambassador, the investors in China are closely and keenly observing the fast growing power sector in Pakistan and its progress has been reckoned as exemplary.



He assured Pakistan that China would keep extending assistance to the power sector as it had been instrumental in CPEC’s success besides being important for the Pakistani nation.

He said China would also look into the possibility of investing in service delivery at the distribution level and in that regard he would soon engage with leading service providers in China.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2018.

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