Pakistan seeks US, China aid on energy

Energy-deficient Pakistan is seeking help from the United States and China to help it overcome its energy crisis through a long-term upgrade and diversification of the antiquated power sector as larger cities suffer power cuts on a daily basis.
Last week, US President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, said that recent gains by the Pakistani army against militants gave Washington “breathing room” to focus more attention on the country’s economic woes.

A team of American experts arrived on Sunday (August 23) in Islamabad to assess the ailing energy sector and help the government overcome electricity loadshedding and outages. US trade promotion agencies are expected to provide financial

backing for some of the projects in the power sector.

At the same time, President Asif Ali Zardari, who is on a five-day visit to China, has sought Chinese assistance in hydro, thermal and solar power generation to overcome the power crisis and has invited Chinese firms to carry out a feasibility study. The two countries on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of the Bunji dam in the northern area, which would have a capacity of generating 4,000 megawatts of electricity.

Zardari said Chinese investments were needed in the agriculture, hydropower and energy sectors, with Pakistan seeking to increase its energy capacity by 10,000 megawatts by 2015. During the president’s three previous visits to China, a number of agreements and MoUs were signed to strengthen economic ties. They recently signed a US$700 million deal to build 12 small- and medium-sized dams for electricity generation in Pakistan. China’s EXIM Bank will finance these projects.

Asia Times