Participants pose for a group photo after the CAREC Energy Ministers' Dialogue in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Sept. 20, 2019. Nine countries from the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program signed a declaration here on Friday to accelerate cross-border cooperation on energy issues and move the region a step closer to the creation of a regional energy market, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)
TASHKENT, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nine countries from the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program signed a declaration here on Friday to accelerate cross-border cooperation on energy issues and move the region a step closer to the creation of a regional energy market, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Energy ministers and leaders from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan discussed common regional energy challenges and signed a 10-point "historic declaration" during the CAREC Energy Ministers' Dialogue held here Friday, the ADB said in a statement.
"The declaration sets the region on a faster reform path toward more liberal energy markets with greater private sector participation and investment, increased power connections and exchanges between countries, and a strong commitment to tapping renewable energy sources and clean technologies," it said.
According to the ADB, CAREC countries are rich in natural resources, but have an uneven distribution of these resources. This, compounded by inadequate infrastructure and inefficient state-owned energy utilities, means some countries continue to face power shortages.
"To keep pace with the region's economic growth and an increasing demand for power, the region will need to double its current power system capacity by 2030. The capacity expansion will require sizable investments, estimated to be about 400 billion U.S. dollars in cumulative investments up to 2030," it said.
Following Friday's dialogue, officials also attended the opening of the 4th CAREC Energy Investment Forum, a two-day forum which aims to unlock and guide private investment in the region's energy sector, it added.
The CAREC Program, established in 1997 by the ADB, is a program to encourage economic cooperation among countries in the Central Asian region.
