REMARKS BY

H.E MAKHDOOM SHAH MAHMOOD QURESHI, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND PETROLEUM & NATURAL RESOURCES AT INVESTORS' ROUNDTABLE ON PAKISTAN 'S POWER SECTOR

Dear Development Partners, Investors,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy to join you this afternoon in my capacity as Pakistan 's Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources. I believe fruitful interactive discussions were held this morning. I trust you are now aware of the Government of Pakistan's views on the power sector, the regulatory framework in Pakistan and IFI's perspective on the power sector in Pakistan .

We seek shared understanding between the investors, financial community and the Government of Pakistan. We also seek your views and inputs into our plans, strategies and policies to accelerate the development of our power sector. We have to bridge the demand-supply gap as soon and as efficiently as possible.

Pakistan was among the first countries to embrace private investment in the power sector, previously considered the sole domain of the public sector. Since the formulation of its first power policy in 1994, under a PPP government, Pakistan has attracted more than $ 6 billion in investments from private investors. Originally, the policy covered only oil and gas based plants. This has now been extended to include coal, hydropower and renewable energy plants as well.

The key to our continued growth lies in achieving energy autarky and meeting both current and future demands for power. The current demand for new power capacity is a great opportunity for investors in this sector.

Located at the confluence of Central, South and West Asia, Pakistan has an inherent advantage to be an energy hub and corridor. It is ideally situated to provide the connection between regional producers and users of energy. I would therefore encourage you to consider participating and investing in the energy sector of Pakistan .

I see that the participants in this roundtable include major companies from the Americas , Europe, Asia and the Middle East . Pakistan enjoys strong bilateral relations with many of these friendly countries. We wish to make these ties stronger through trade activities and by facilitating entrepreneurs and financiers to invest in Pakistan .

Our policies are investor friendly; the power policy provides liberal incentives. The feedback from the investors has been very encouraging as is evident from a large number of private projects under various stages of development.

The gas reserves in Pakistan are depleting. We are therefore focusing on new energy sources, such as hydropower, alternate energy resources like wind and solar energy, and most importantly coal.

As must be evident during the proceedings of this roundtable, our major stress is on Thar coal. In terms of BTUs the potential from this “black gold” is enormous. The coal at Thar is a low sulphur lignite coal, ideal for power generation.

While some of the infrastructure has been developed, work needs to be done on providing further road access and water. The Thar Coal Authority has been formed to develop this resource, improve coordination between the Federal and Provincial authorities and provide a one window access to the developers.

Besides providing enormous investment opportunities to our friends from abroad, this will generate economic activity in the under developed area of Thar. It will provide employment to the people at the same time saving us precious foreign exchange currently being spent on the import of oil.

Pakistan has a time tested framework for private investment in the power sector. Recent positive responses to invitations to bid for projects of about a 1000 MW, supports this belief.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is a win-win situation for both the investors and the people of Pakistan . Let us join hands and reap the benefits of the huge potential and opportunities available in the form of Thar Coal and other attractive investment opportunities in Pakistan .

I thank you all for your interest in the development of Pakistan and hope that this roundtable will make a tangible contribution in addressing Pakistan 's pressing energy needs.