State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has warned that a crisis in the energy sector is imminent unless South Asian countries go for regional cooperation.
Energy prices must be made reasonable so that the wellbeing of the region’s people is ensured, the minister told a two-day long international conference organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at its office yesterday.
Experts from Saarc countries as well as from Japan attended the conference titled “Energy Security in South Asia Plus Relevance of Japanese experience.”
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali underscored the need for enhancing private investment in the energy sector, saying this can help intensify regional cooperation.
He said following the path of Japan to ensure energy efficiency could reduce both the cost and the use of energy. Mahmood Ali also emphasised the need for better cooperation among regional bodies like the BBIN, the BICM and Saarc.
Prof M Tamim, head of Buet’s department of petroleum and mineral resources engineering, said Bangladesh must focus on developing human resources in the energy sector.
Only 5% of the highly educated people of our country are technically educated; but for a developing country like Bangladesh, the number should be at least 25% of the educated population.
Presenting a paper at the conference, Ichiro Kutani, assistant director of Institute of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ), said Bangladesh was still low at electrification and gas supply rate for household, which meant that the country needs large-scale capital investment for the next decade and beyond.
Presenting another paper, RV Shahi, former power secretary of India, said several efforts made during the last few years have already started yielding results in the sub-region consisting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal-also known as BBIN.
Pointing out examples of success stories like Bangladesh cross border-transmission, Bhutan Hydro and Bhutan-India transmission, Shahi also lauded India and Bangladesh governments for the initiative to immediately expand the 500MW HVDC system of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh-India transmission link.
He also suggested a mega-scale transmission from Northeast India via Bangladesh.
