Officials during the event at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter
The energy and power investment projects across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan has huge potential and attracted a number of potential investors as the government is expected to sign over 20 MoUs worth $1 billion in the upcoming investment conference.

The Investment Conference will be held at the Pakistan Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai on Jan.16 in which the KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan will be the chief guest besides senior government officials.

Talking to the Gulf Today, Engineer Muhammad Naeem Khan, CEO Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO), Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that the KP has huge potential in hydro power projects and the local investors showed great interest.

“During the 2-day conference aim to highlight energy and power investment projects in the province, we present a number of hydro power projects as our province is resources and ready to offer lucrative profitable projects in water and energy sector. The KP province is full of resources especially ideal for hydro power projects as number of rivers are generating here and suitable for generating energy with and without storage due to ideal geographic position," Naeem added.
Eng. Muhammad Naeem Khan addresses the ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Pakistan has the capacity of 60,000 MV identified power potential and close to 50 per cent is in the KP. “So far hardly 10 per cent being using and remaing 40 per cent resources are untapped but these can be beneficial against good return of foreign investment,” PEDO CEO Naeem said.

“The KP government is also seeking foreign investment from Pakistani based in UAE as well local firms to get benefits from our wide range of hydro projects with different lucrative methods. The Almighty Allah has gifted huge opportunities to our province and we want to tap these property and made these resources more beneficial for our people to made their live more easy,” he said.

Eng. Naeem is known expert of water resources and energy sector and currently overseeing KP government projects in Northern Areas of the province.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has huge oil & gas proven potential and is currently contributing at national level with 50 per cent of oil, 12 per cent Gas and 38 per cent LPG.

Potential investment were highlighted in the recent conference were 495 MW Kari Mushkur Hydropower Project, 220 KV Swat Corridor Transmission Line, Solarization of KP Economic Zones and Green Hydrogen Project.
Officials attend the conference at Pakistan Pavilion.

Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, Secretary Energy & Power Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also told the Gulf Today that a number of water and energy projects are underway in the KP province and the feasibility study for various future projects have already carried out and being present at the 2-day conference held in the Expo 2020 Dubai

“The government on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan paying extraordinary attention on clean energy resources and in this regard various solar energy projects has started as over 9,000 mosques in different parts of the KP province are already transferred on solar energy,” Imtiaz said.

He further said that the government in 11 districts has installed around 300 micro hydel projects to provide electricity and the tourism in these areas has improved. “In the second phase of this project, we decided to install more 300 mini hydel units to provide electricity and made life easier for the people of these areas,” he added.

He also mentioned that the government is also working on future energy source which is hydrogen and in this regard a delegation of KP government will visit a local plant in Dubai this week.

Dr Hassan Daud Butt, CEO KP Board of Investment & Trade “we are glad from the response from different segment of the multinational community based in UAE as the Expo 2020 Dubai is a great platform and huge opportunity for us to promote and showcase the potential in various sectors in our province. We are also thankful of the UAE Rulers and government authorities to provide us this platform as our conferences on energy and water, minerals and investment are attracting local and foreign investors,” he said.

He further mentioned that the delegation representing different government departments are organising daily workshops, activities and exhibitions to promote KP culture, art and history besides highlighting the investment opportunities in various sectors.

“I see great future of collaborations between the UAE and Pakistan,” he added.

“During the next week investment conference, we are expecting to sign over 20 MoU sign between KP government and UAE-based companies while talks on various projects are underway right now,” he added.

Meanwhile a month-long activities by KP province has been started earlier with the aim of showcasing the potential for investment in tourism, agriculture, mines & minerals, SEZs and energy, infrastructure and IT sectors during the month of January of 2022.

In a ceremony held in Pakistan Pavilion recenltey, Pakistan Ambassador to UAE Afzal Mahmood inaugurated the mega exhibition of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the presence of guests from different segments of Pakistani diaspora residing in the UAE.

Chief Executive Officer, KP-Board of Investment & Trade Hassan Daud Butt, Director General, KP-Culture & Tourism Authority, Kamran Ahmad Afridi, Vice Chairman KP-Board of Investment & Trade, Eng. Said Mehmood, Director General, Trade and Development Rizwan Tariq, Pakistan Business Association, Pakhtunkhwa Business Council, and others were also present on the occasion, Besides, a large number of visitors also attended the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Afzal Mahmood said that participation in the Dubai Expo was a big achievement for Pakistan, which will help attract tourists and investors to various sectors of the economy.

He said that projects in tourism, agriculture, industry, mines and minerals, energy, Special Economic Zones, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure and information technology will be presented to the global audience.

He further added that government had taken a number of steps for providing conducive environment to the investors to invest in the above sectors. He lauded the efforts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team for organising the exhibition and showcasing the local products and artifacts to the world.

Kamran Afridi, MD, KP-CTA said that KP province was participating in the Expo 2020 Dubai as per the visions of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to lure more tourists and investors to the province.

“We are going to display our tourist spots, cultural heritage sites, indigenous Kalash culture, historic Gandhara Civilisation, sites for adventure tourism in northern and southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a lot of more to the tourists and investors to visit these marvelous places and invest in the sector,” he added.

Hassan Daud, CEO KP-BOIT briefed the participants about the KP’s investment potential in key sectors and the steps taken by the KP Government to facilitate investors and create enabling environment through Ease of Doing Business.

He further invited the participants to visit Pakistan Pavilion during the month of January witness the craft, culture, tourism and discuss investment projects of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Speaking on the occasion, he highlighted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province of Pakistan with five years Investment Promotion strategy and the same was shared with the participants also.

The officials from the KP province told that the current government has been giving priority to cottage industry to flourish while the 5-year investment policy also huge benefit for the investors.

The Vice Chairman KP-Board of Investment, Eng. Said Mehmood also addressed the occasion and appreciated the support extended by the local business community to KP in terms of engaging with investors.