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All Regulatory bodies in Pakistan are working freely to benefit the people
and ensuring fair rate of return to attract investment. Dr. Abdul Hafeez
Shaikh Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment stated this in the
opening ceremony of 6th Core Training Program on Infrastructure Regulation and
Reform Ceremony held under the auspices of South Asia Forum for Infrastructure
Regulation (SAFIR) here today.
The Minister said that the Regulatory bodies have been strengthened due to
strong commitment by the government. While giving an overview of Pakistan's
regulatory framework he underlined the need to separate regulation activity
and policy making due to conflict of interest. Regulatory bodies in Pakistan
were performing effectively and contributing a lot in resolving complex issues
like multiyear tariff in case of Public sector utilities being processed for
privatisation, he said.
Dr. Hafeez Shaikh informed the participants that Pakistan has done a
reasonably good job in establishing independent Regulators for electricity,
Telecom, Banking and other related area. It is for the Regulators to well
understand their decisions and their consequences. The course is being
participated by 70 participants from the nine countries of South Asia region.
The course is designed to enhance the economic, financial and strategic skills
of a select group of senior utility regulators, regulatory specialists,
government officials and senior expert staff in regulated companies from
the South Asia Region.
In his keynote address Mr. Ian Alexander of South Asia Energy and
Infrastructure Unit, World Bank, USA said that service provisions to the
consumers and to set prices and rules for better competition were the areas
always finalized by the regulators. Lot of work has been done as regard to the
electric sector while work was still underway for the gas sector, he added.
Dr. R. K. Pachauri Director General TERI India said that there were common
areas of interest, which could be developed through collective efforts. Lt.
General Saeed uz Zafar Chairman NEPRA termed the course as an
opportunity to develop interpersonal institutions and to share the experiences
of the participating countries. He said that the course would provide a strong
understanding of the theory and the practice of infrastructure reforms. The
chairmanship of SAFIR rests with National Electric Power Regulatory Authority
(NEPRA) for this year.