Islamabad, 18th October 2019: The 6th meeting of the Energy Planning Expert Panel (EPEP) on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was held on 15-16 October, 2019 in Islamabad. The meeting was attended by the senior officials of Ministry of Energy (Power Division), Planning Commission, PPIB, NTDC, NEPRA, PEPCO, AEDB, NEECA, energy departments of all four provinces, AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan, while from Chinese side, senior officials of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI) were among the participants.   

Members from Pakistani and Chinese expert panels deliberated on various aspects of ongoing projects under CPEC and expressed satisfaction on the progress achieved so far under this gigantic initiative. Joint Study on Power Market of Pakistan was discussed and deliberated on exploring further avenues of energy cooperation between two countries under the CPEC.  Managing Director PPIB Mr. Shah Jahan Mirza presented a comprehensive review on further energy cooperation under the CPEC and briefed the Panel on power and allied infrastructure projects that can be considered for implementing under the CPEC. In addition, fruitful discussions were also held on the use of Chinese currency for future investments in Power Projects.    

Transmission and distribution system of Pakistan was also discussed while particular focus of the Panel was on evacuation of electricity from CPEC projects. Several other components of energy sector were discussed which include risk of delayed payment of tariff and currency depreciation, managements methods of CPEC energy projects, and stability in the policy of CPEC energy projects.       

The meeting was spread over two days. The second day of the meeting was exclusively allocated for presentations from Provincial governments, AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan on exploring and deliberating future cooperation in the energy sector under CPEC. Productive discussions as well as brief question answer sessions were held among participants of the meeting for developing consensus on finalizing the recommendations for further deliberation and consideration by Joint Energy Working Group (JEWG).

The meeting of the JEWG was held on 18th October 2019 in Islamabad which was co-chaired by Mr. Irfan Ali, Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and Mr. Li Fanrong, Vice Administrator of China’s National Energy Administration (NEA). Both the dignitaries in their opening speeches expressed satisfaction on the progress of projects already undertaken under the CPEC and urged on broadening the cooperation to cover other sectors of Pakistan’s economy as well beside energy projects. The recommendations of the 6th EPEP meeting were thoroughly discussed by JEWG before firming-up for final consideration and approval by the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC. The Second half of the meeting was allocated for oil and gas which was jointly chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) Mian Asad Hayaud Din and Mr. Li Fanrong, Vice Administrator of NEA. The development plan on Pakistan oil & gas industry as well as proposed projects for consideration under CPEC initiative was reviewed in detail and formed recommendations.