Kathmandu, November 21: Power Summit-2019 has begun here from Thursday (Nov 21) with a target to produce 15,000 MW power within 10 years declared by the government and to search market of power.
The summit is organized by Independent Power Producers’ Association – Nepal (IPPAN) with support of Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation were representative and investors from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, China, Norway, and Australia, among others have been participating in the summit. Inaugurating the summit, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Barshaman Pun, said that an investment-friendly environment has been constructed in the country and remarkable changes have been made in the energy sector in the recent period as per the goal set by the government.
He urged the domestic and foreign investors to invest in Nepal without any doubt, saying Nepal has been developed as an attractive and trustworthy destination due to legal, policy and structural-level reform by the government. Saying the government has set a target to increase power production by five folds within the next five years as compared to this situation, Minister Pun invited foreign investors to invest with open heart as national goals could not be achieved only from domestic investment.
He further said that the government has started collaboration with neighboring countries for market expansion of the power and some-long-term agreements have already been signed in this regard. An environment to export electricity from Nepal to countries like India and Bangladesh in a smooth manner has been created and further activities are underway in this regard, added the Minister Pun. Irrigation Minister Pun said, “Bilateral discussion is underway as per the agreement to collaborate in the energy sector between Nepal and Bangladesh.
Two meetings have already been held between technical teams of both countries. We want to move further ahead.” He said that there would be support of India in power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh. Similarly, Minister for Economic Affairs of Bhutan, who is participating in the summit, Loknath Sharma said that they were ready to work together, saying Nepal and Bhutan are ‘Power House’ for South Asia in power production. Minister Sharma added that collaboration between the two countries was necessary as hydropower is the backbone of economic development.
Likewise, Chief Investment Officer of Netherlands Development Agency, Linda Broekhuizen, said that foreign investment was necessary to fulfill the goals set by Nepal in power development. Saying her organization has been investing in Bhutan and Bangladesh, Linda expressed willingness to invest in Nepal’s hydropower development. Likewise, IPPAN Chair Shailendra Guragain said that the summit would become successful in the search market of electricity.
IPPAN Vice-Chair Kumar Pandey said that bilateral or trilateral agreement was necessary for power development and to expand its market. Representatives from seven countries including Nepal have been participating in the two-day summit. RSS
