Sustainable Energy Initiative for Industries in Pakistan project highlights importance of Renewable Energy and energy efficiency
ISLAMABAD – United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has launched a project, Sustainable Energy Initiative for industries in Pakistan, to explore options for renewable energy for the industrial sector and to improve Pakistan’s energy efficiency.
The launching ceremony of the event was held in Islamabad and was widely attended by stakeholder, both from the industry and relevant Government officials from ministry and line departments.
Ambassador of EU delegation in Pakistan, UN resident coordinator in Pakistan and senior officials of Ministry of Industries and Production and Climate change and representative of a various organization like alternative energy development board AEDB, National Productivity Organization, Small and medium Enterprise development authority SMEDA attended the event funded by GEF.
Mr. Neil Buhne, UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan said the sustainable development goals called SDGs are very important for Pakistan and this project, in particular, is important as it not only directly addresses SDG 9 i.e industry , innovation, and infrastructure which in fact falls under the domain of UNIDO , but it is going all the way taking care of other SDGs such as no poverty , food and hunger and even others. He posed full confidence in UNIDO’S team for the smooth and effective sailing of the project.
Mr. Khizar Hayat Gondal, Federal Secretary of Industries and Production messaged through his representative about the significance of this energy related project, saying that given the level of energy crunch in Pakistan, it is important that UNIDO through its energy portfolios in Pakistan is coming all out to technically assess Pakistan in this sector. He further said that it is very timely that UNIDO has stepped in helping the industrial sector to explore the options of alternative energy which could be a breakthrough technology for Pakistan giving
He further said that it is very timely that UNIDO has stepped in helping the industrial sector to explore the options of alternative energy which could be a breakthrough technology for Pakistan giving the boost to overall industrial sector development. He further said that the government of Pakistan has provided full support directly and through its specialized technical department for this endeavor.
Mr. Esam Alqararah, UNIDO representative in Pakistan welcoming the participants shed light on the role of UNIDO during its 40 years of presence and highlighted some hallmark achievements of UNIDO which has assisted in the sustainable development of Pakistani Industrial sector. He stressed upon the importance of Renewable Energy and energy efficiency in Pakistan and emphasized it is very promising that this project is going to be owned by the private sector industry from the very beginning.
In his introductory remarks about the project, Mr. Alois Mhlanga, the visiting Project Manager, highlighted about various the approaches which have been successfully applied to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in other parts of the world.
Additional secretary MoIP/ CEO SMEDA, Mr. Sher Ayub, speaking on the occasion said that SMEDA is delighted to be the part of this project which is addressing energy that is currently an acutest and critical issue in Pakistan. He hoped that soon this project would be in a position to transfer the tested technology for using alternative energy sources at a commercially viable scale that will provide tempting results for the other industries to follow.
Mr Ishrat Ali, representing Ministry of Climate Change said that in this global world, all economies are interdependent and to thrive in this competitive world, countries like Pakistan has to move fast especially in coping with its energy shortfalls and by building the capacity of its manpower inefficient usage of energy. He further said, given this background, this energy project holds significant promise for Pakistan.
The follow-up events included presentations highlighting the very objectives of the project, presented by National Project Manager which followed a very healthy discussion providing further insight to the project.