[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l LS: US-Sponsored Energy Conf In Nepal Sees Enormous Market
SOURCE: Kathmandu Post March 08, 2000
Energy parley kicks off US sees enormous market in S Asia
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, March 7 - At the high profile two-day regional energy meet
that kicked off here today, US
experts pointed out that energy supply has not kept pace with demand in
South Asia and that there is
an enormous market for US investments.
Responding to reporters query at a press briefing organised here today,
J Joseph Grandmaison, Director
of US Trade and Development Agency (TDA), said South Asia is a promising
market for energy. "If you
are a serious US energy company and not interested in South Asia, you
are making a mistake," he
said.
He, however, pointed out that there are risks of potential delay. "The
energy is here and the market is
here. It is just the policy that is delayed," said Grandmaison.
Calvin Humphrey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, International
Affairs, US, said while one fourth
of the world’s population live in South Asia, the consumption rate is
only 3.8 percent of the world
energy.
"Less than 40 per cent of the South Asian population have access to
consistent and reliable electricity,"
said Humphrey.
Grandmaison added the meet will not talk on the policies though. "We
don’t pretend to make the
decisions," said he. "We begin by respecting the decision of the
government."
T J Glauthier, Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the
Department of Energy, US, said the
meeting is also to share their mistakes and experiences. "Sharing of
information on what we have
learnt...sharing our experiences is also a part of it," he said.
The conference which according to the organisers is scheduled to
compliment US President Bill
Clinton’s visit to South Asia later this month is a part of larger focus
in South Asia. It has been
organised to assist in regional energy development and expand trade
opportunities for US companies
involved in the energy sector. Clinton’s visit to Bangladesh and India
slated through March 20-25 is
expected to boost U.S. economic ties with the region.
To a question why Nepal did not feature in Clinton’s itinerary, T J
Glauthier, said it was because of "time
constraint". But regional cooperation in the energy sector is the major
point that Clinton will make during
his visit, said the officials. A series of one-on-one meetings has also
been arranged for participants to
meet privately with project sponsors as well as potential partner
companies in the region. According to
Grandmaison, this is an unprecedented opportunity for US companies to
capture a larger share of the
energy projects in South Asia.
Energy Information Administration (EIA), has identified Nepal and Bhutan
as having enormous
hydroelectric power potential with only a very small portion currently
being exploited. It has pointed out
that these two countries could be large hydropower producers and
exporters to neighbouring countries.
Only one percent of Nepal’s potential hydropower capacity out of around
83,000 MW with 44,000
estimated to be economically viable is being currently harnessed.
Nepal’s installed electricity generation
is around 300 Megawatts (MW) of which about 82 percent is hydroelectric
and the remaining thermal.
Hydropower projects worth billions of US dollars have been proposed in
Nepal. Multinational energy
giants like Enron and Australia’s Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation
(SMEC) have proposed
building large scale hydel projects in Nepal.
When asked if the conference will also discuss the pressing energy issue
of the region like thrashing
out downstream benefits, US Ambassador to Nepal Ralph Frank said the
topic will not be introduced
formally. "If so it will be done informally and not as a part of the
formal programme."
Frank added only environment friendly projects will be funded.
According to TDA, both the region and over 50 participating companies
benefit by the developing key
projects worth billions of dollars in the areas of oil and gas, coal,
mining, power generation,
hydro-electricity, refining, liquefied natural gas and petrochemicals in
one of the worlds largest markets.
Senior officials from U.S and the seven countries of South Asia --
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- are discussing the upcoming
developments in the energy sector from
business perspective and providing information on more than 30 large
scale public and private sector
projects currently on drawing boards.
US Ambassadors to all seven countries except Pakistan are also attending
the meeting. According to
the organisers, Ambassador to Pakistan could not attend the meeting
because he is trying to see if
Clinton can make a stopover in Pakistan.
Energy South Asia is organised by US agencies -- TDA, Departments of
Energy and Commerce and
Agency for International Development (AID).