Baku, Azerbaijan, March 18
By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:
An official with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) has suggested that cooperation in energy sector among the Caspian Sea littoral countries as well as the Central Asian states would contribute to stability and security in the region.
“Various opportunities for cooperation exist among the littoral countries of the Caspian Sea including the swap of power, oil and gas. Unfortunately, these chances for cooperation have been missed over the past several years. Central Asia and the littoral countries of the Caspian Sea have lagged behind similar regions including Southeast Asia in the terms of regional cooperation,” Dr. Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, senior assistant to dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), told Trend on the sidelines of a seminar in Baku.
“Exports of power, oil and gas are capable of hugely helping the trade and economic integration in the region,” he added.
The ADBI official believes that cooperation in the energy sector is a way to contribute to energy security.
“In addition to its contribution to stability and peace in the region, cooperation on the exchange of power between the regional countries and also other sources of energy like oil and gas is capable of creating energy security,” he noted.
The ADBI organized a 2-day course-based training program, “Achieving Energy Security in Central Asia: Role of Renewable Energy”, for officials from 11 state-members of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) Program in Baku, Azerbaijan on March 12-13.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia are among the main members of Carec Program.