Saarc energy ministers' meeting to be held in Oct

Ahead of the Saarc Summit to be held in Dhaka in November, the regional grouping's energy ministers would hold a two-day meet here beginning next month to discuss the progress on a host of initiatives, including proposal to Form Saarc Energy Ring.

A two-day meeting of Saarc energy experts will be held prior to the ministers' meeting on September 29 and 30 to decide the agenda of the ministerial meeting, a Pakistan official was quoted as saying.

He said projects concerning cooperation in the energy trade, independent power producers, standards of efficiency, fuel efficiency for road transport and cng, rural electrification, micro-hydro electric and wind energy plants will be discussed in the meeting.

The Saarc energy centre under consideration will act as a catalyst for economic growth and development in south asia and will concentrate on the sharing of information, technological expertise and hardware.

The meeting will also look at accelerating the integration of energy strategies within the region. " We will benefit from Nepal's outstanding efforts in the realm of fuel conservation, such as electric battery rickshaws and solar water heaters," he said.