The Third Meeting of SAARC Energy Ministers will be held in Colombo on January 29 with the participation of all SAARC Member States, the SAARC Secretariat and the SAARC Energy Centre. The Meeting that will be chaired by Minister of Power & Energy of Sri Lanka, W.D.J. Seneviratne will be the first SAARC ministerial meeting that Sri Lanka is hosting since assuming the Chairmanship of SAARC in August 2008.

The Meeting of Energy Ministers will be preceded by a meeting of Senior Officials today chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Power & Energy of Sri Lanka, M.M.C. Ferdinando.

During the two-day meeting, senior officials and ministers from SAARC countries will deliberate on several key issues in the energy sector following the directives set by SAARC leaders at the 15th Summit.

The issues that will be discussed include a Regional Energy Trade Study, an Action Plan on Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency, Concept of a South Asian Energy Ring, common template on technical and commercial aspects of the electricity grid interconnections amongst the SAARC Member States and a Concept Paper on joint import of crude oil.

Respective delegations to the ministerial meeting will be led by Deputy Minister of Energy and Water of Afghanistan, Ahmad Wali Sherzai; State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud; Minister of Economic Affairs of Bhutan Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk; Minister of Power of India Sushil Kumar Shinde; Minister of Housing, Transport and Environment of the Maldives Mohamed Aslam; Minister of Water Resources of Nepal Bisnu Prasad Paudel; and Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources of Pakistan G.A. Sabri. Secretary General of SAARC Sheel Kant Sharma and Director of the SAARC Energy Centre Hilal Raza will also participate in the deliberations.