Meeting needs: Gilani asks for Chinese solar technology

Also invites Zhengrong to Pakistan, so that he may personally assess the potential of solar energy.

BOAO: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that Pakistan can benefit from Chinese technological breakthroughs in solar energy to help it meet its growing energy needs. He was talking to the chairman and chief executive officer of Suntech Power Holding Shi Zhengrong here on Monday on the sidelines of the Boao Economic Forum. Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan was seeking alternative and renewable energy to help solve its energy needs, which were held up due to severe electricity shortages. The prime minister also invited Zhengrong to Pakistan, so that he may personally assess the potential of solar energy and the needs of industrial and domestic users. He told him that Pakistan offered lucrative incentives for foreign investors in all fields. Gilani especially asked for provision of solar energy to run tubewells in Balochistan to help meet irrigation needs of the farming community.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2012.