Karachi: The Pakistan Business Council (PBC), held a forum on “Pakistan’s Power Sector: Electricity Availability and Cost” on 19 May, 2016, in Karachi. Ehsan Malik (CEO of PBC), stated that this is the third event organised by the PBC in 2016 to assist businesses to grow. In January, the PBC hosted over 100 Chinese delegates in CPEC-related B2B interaction. In March, the PBC organised a seminar on potential opportunities in trade with Iran, post the lifting of sanctions.
Welcoming the guests, Atif Aslam Bajwa (Chairman PBC and President & CEO of Bank Alfalah) underlined the critical importance of availability, reliability and cost of grid power while making long term investment decisions. He went on to mention the uncertainty being generated by conflicting media reports and statements from various sources regarding the future of Pakistan’s energy security.
Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Mansoor (CEO of HUBCO) shared with the audience his assessment of the availability and cost of grid power in the coming years. He also listed the various projects that are being undertaking by HUBCO on the generation side, including the Thar Coal project. Also speaking on the occasion, Tayyab Tareen (CEO of K-Electric) outlined the performance of K-Electric since its privatization and also listed the impediments in K-Electric’s efforts to provide uninterrupted power to consumers.
Dale Sinkler (Chief Operating Officer, Generation and Transmission, K-Electric) spoke about K-Electric’s generation and transmission plans. He discussed the shortcomings in the power policy which limits private sector investments in transmission. Asif Saad (Chief Operating Officer, Distribution, K-Electric) discussed the investments made and future projects for distribution by Pakistan’s largest integrated electric utility company. He further pointed out that returns on distribution are the lowest as compared to generation and transmission and that these need to increase to make the sector attractive for the private sector.