Staff Reporter Islamabad
Federal Minister for Energy Mr. Omar Ayub Khan met Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, Ambassador of United Arab Emirates in Pakistan, in his office Wednesday morning.
They both discussed the on-going cooperation in the petroleum sector and explored the priority areas of mutual interest in the energy sector of Pakistan.
The Minister congratulated and lauded the Emirates for country’s space mission to Mars “Amal or Hope’’ and its successful entry into Mars’ orbit. The Ambassador thanked and extended his gratitude for the Minister’s pleasant notion. He also expressed his interest to further invest in the energy sector of Pakistan. He said that the collaboration in energy sector would provide an impetus to economic ties the between brotherly countries.
Separately, Omar Ayub Khan also met Tomas Smetanka, Ambassador of Republic of Czech in Pakistan. The Minister had a comprehensive discussion on outlook of energy sector and energy market in Pakistan. The Czech Ambassador explored the areas of mutual discussion in energy sector including investment in oil sector and business in LNG supply chain for group of Czech companies visiting Pakistan by end of March next.
The Minister also highlighted the government’s policies to revamp the petroleum and power sector of the country. He said that the government is fully committed to diversify the outlook of energy market while making it more competitive and efficient.
The Minister breifed about the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2030 which emphasised on increasing the share of indigenous sources on basis of amount, time and location while reducing the reliance on imported fuel. He further highlighted that IGCEP would forge additional renewable capacity i.e 60% power generation from biomass, solar and wind; 30% from hydel, 10% each from thermal and nuclear power plants.
The Ambassador voiced a hope that the Czech companies would have valuable input from Pakistani counterparts and would find best opportunities for investments and business in energy sector of Pakistan. He said it would strengthen the bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
