Government should announce lucrative incentives and allied facilities to lure domestic and foreign investment in energy sector. This was said by Mian Shaukat Masud, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a statement. He said energy shortage is the main hurdle in economic development as it retards the growth of trade and industrial activities. It is a bad reflection on our policy making as despite possessing immense potential of indigenous conventional and alternative energy resources, Pakistan so far remained an energy deficient country. Instead of exploiting indigenous cheap energy resources, it has been meeting its energy needs predominantly through imported fossil fuel which always proved a cumbersome burden on the national economy.

Mian Shaukat Masud said all sectors of economy including textile, steel, cement & marble etc. are currently performing much below their capacity due to load shedding and energy shortage and have suffered loss of millions of rupees on this account. He said apart from law and order problems, energy shortage is another biggest factor which is shying away potential investors from coming to Pakistan. He said as the population increases and urbanization surges, economy expands, the demand for energy will register steep rise. Therefore, the challenges of rising energy demand should come to the center stage. The major energy consumption sectors of the country are: industrial (38.3 percent), transport (32.8 percent), residential and commercial (25 percent), agriculture (2.5 percent) and others (2.2 percent).

ICCI President said Pakistan is endowed with immense cheap indigenous energy resources including coal & hydel & renewable energy like wind and solar, waste, bio diesel etc. which need commitment to exploit them. According to some sources, only wind has the potential to generate 350,000MW energy. He called upon the government to develop an indigenous base of renewable technologies in Pakistan for tapping these energy resources so that country could meet its growing energy needs comfortably. He said all potential resources should be made available to local as well as foreign investors by providing them attractive incentives for commercial harvesting of these resources. He Pakistan also needs to devise and implement a comprehensive renewable energy policy designed to achieve energy security, environmental protection, sustainable development and social & economic equity in the country.