DUSHANBE, August 8, 2008, Asia-Plus — Pakistan is interested in import of Central Asian electrical power, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan to Tajikistan, Mr. Khalid Usman Kasir, remarked at a meeting with reporters in Dushanbe on August 8, commenting on the intergovernmental agreements that was signed at the Fourth Intergovernmental CASAREM Conference in Islamabad on August 4.
According to him, although Pakistan has taken considerable steps towards development of its economy, it I still considered developing country and power shortages impede the pace of its economic growth.
Asked about the possibility of participation of his country in the Roghun hydroelectricity project in Tajikistan, Mr. Kasir noted that the issue may be solved in the course of an August summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe and an official visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Tajikistan.
“We are waiting for Russia’s decision on this issue: if Moscow abandons its ambitions to complete construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power station alone and joins international consortium, I do not rule out that Pakistan will participate in this project,” Ambassador Kasir stressed.
We will recall that according to Pakistan’s Business Recorder, addressing the 4
th
Central Asia/South Asia Regional Electricity Market (CASAREM) Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf remarked said that Pakistan will import 1000MW electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to overcome power shortage and increase trade and economic activities for building confidence among member nations of Central Asia/South Asia Regional Electricity Market.
He added that the project for import of 1000 MW from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan via Afghanistan is very vital for bringing confidence and comfort among the regional states along with boosting economic activities. The Government of Pakistan had expressed strong interest in importing 1000 MW of electricity from Tajikistan through a high-voltage transmission line to be built through Afghanistan, as the first phase of developing electricity trade with Central Asian Region, said Raja Ashraf. He said there was equally strong Tajik government”s interest in exporting electricity via Afghanistan to enable the transit as well as in importing some quantities for its own market.
The major donors are: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank, who are providing valuable assistance to materialize Casa 1000. The project will ensure supply of electricity from both the exporting countries at 5.5 cents per unit, Pakistan’s Business Recorder.
The third CASAREM conference was held in Kabul, Afghanistan on November 14-16, 2007. Participants at the Kabul meeting reviewed reports on the technical and economic feasibility and institutional aspects of the project which had been prepared with support from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. At the end of the meeting, CASAREM member countries made key decisions to move ahead with the project, which could ultimately trigger much larger development of energy resources of Central Asia and expanded electricity trade with South Asia. The conference ended with signing of an agreement to implement a US$500 million electricity connection between Central Asia and South Asia. In its first stage, the project would transfer around 1300 Megawatts of electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
