Azerbaijan, Baku, May 23 / Trend /
On Monday, the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Energy Sector Coordinating Committee (ESCC) launched its meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, Asian Development Bank's (ADB) press release says.
ESCC meeting will discuss issues related to regional cooperation in electricity sector, energy supply and demand, and national and regional energy security. It will also discuss technical topics such as power system planning and operations, and opportunities for carbon finance trade among CAREC countries. ESCC meeting will end on May 25, 2011.
The high-rank government representatives of 10 countries (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) are participating at the ESCC meeting.
Commenting on the ESCC Baku meeting, Levan Mtchedlishvili, Energy Specialist of Asian Development Bank (ADB) said: "The long term vision of the region's energy sector is to ensure energy security through the balanced development of the region's energy infrastructure and institutions, stronger integration of the region's energy markets to make available adequate volumes of commercial energy to all physical and juridical persons in a reliable, affordable, financially sustainable and environmentally sound manner. The role of ESCC is to make sure that the achievement of the long-term vision for the energy sector in the region is pursued through economically and financially sound investment measures for regional cooperation taking into account the interests of all states in the region. We would like to thank the Government of Azerbaijan for hosting such an important meeting".
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan, Mr. Natig Abbasov mentioned that Azerbaijani government has been and will continue supporting CAREC initiatives in energy cooperation.
CAREC was established in 1997 and supported by ADB, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, United Nations Development Program, and World Bank. The goal of CAREC is to encourage economic cooperation among countries in the Central Asian region. ESCC is an institution of CAREC working in the area of energy cooperation
ADB was established in 1966 and is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.