Pakistan, Afghanistan signs agreement on electricity transit fees

The signing ceremony that held at World Bank Headquarters on Saturday was witnessed by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman. While Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, Additional Secretary External Finanace Shahid Mahmood attended the ceremony.

Pakistan negotiated the price to 1.25 cents per kilowatt against the Afghanistan’s initial asking price of 2.5 cents per KW.

Ishaq Dar said that it’s a win-win for both countries.

Furthermore, it established the commercial arrangements for 1,300 megawatts (WM) of sustainable, regional electricity trade between Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the Central Asia South Asia (CASA) Electricity Transmission and Trade Project, known as CASA-1000.

CASA-1000 aims to build more than 1,200 km of electricity transmission lines and associated substations to transmit excess summer hydropower energy from existing power generation stations in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Federal Finance Minister has expressed appreciation for the World Bank, the US State Department and USAID for their support for the landmark project.

“This marks a new beginning towards greater economic cooperation between the two countries – and Pakistan is committed to greater economic and trade cooperation with Afghanistan,” which just had a new government in Kabul, Dar said.

In a bid to supervise the design as well as for implementation of the project, four countries have established an inter-governmental council.