European Investment Bank Vice President Magdalena Alverez Arza on Saturday said that her organisation would support renewable energy projects in Pakistan as the country is blessed with tremendous opportunities in renewable power generation sector which needs to be fully tapped.
Talking to Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar during a meeting, Arza said that EIB is looking forward to Pakistan’s working on wind power projects to meet its enhanced energy needs. “Moreover, EIB has a structured mandate to support power projects through capacity building of Pakistan’s relevant stakeholders,” she added.
Dar told the visiting delegation that the present government in Pakistan has developed a policy whereby local and overseas investors are fully protected, sovereign guarantees through well designed financial instruments are available and offer attractive returns to the overseas energy sector investors that can secure their investment related economic interests.
The finance minister presented a snapshot of Pakistan’s economy to Arza stating that Pakistan has inherited a complex economic situation with macro-economic imbalances. “The present government has focused its attention to the issues of economy, energy and extremism. Besides, it is fully geared towards increasing the existing 14000MW power potential up to 24000MW in next four years in order to address country’s growing commercial and industrial sectors’ needs,” he said.
Dar emphasised that Pakistan had inherited a wrong energy mix which is heavily tilted in favour of expensive thermal power generation which needed to be reversed.
