Iran - Syria joint energy commission meeting
Syria-Iran, Economics, 1/29/2002

The first meeting Iran-Syria joint energy commission was held in Tehran Tuesday with the participation of representatives from Iran's ministry of energy and Syria's ministry of electricity. At the meeting, Syria's Deputy Minister of Electricity, Sofyan al-Alav pointed out that the energy consumption in Syria in peak hours has reached 4,699 mw, while its power generating capacity is 7,700 mw, IRNA reported.

"He underlined that according to a survey, the predicted capacity for 2020 should reach 15,500 mw to the demand. The realization of this, he asserted, calls for the investment of USD ten billion. Referring to the fact that Syria imports 90 percent of its electrical supplies from overseas, he expressed his interest in Tehran-Damascus joint power generation projects," IRNA said.

"Iran's Deputy Energy Minister and the Managing Director of Power Distribution and Generation Company (TAVANIR), Mohammad Ahmadian, referred to the potentials of Iran's Energy Ministry and hoped that Syrian students would take up special training courses in the faculty affiliated to the ministry. Iran's economical attache in Syria, Sa'id Kouzehchi, addressing IRNA, at the conclusion of the commission, referred to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries as the fundamental objective for Iran-Syria's joint energy commission. The MoU on Iran-Syria's joint cooperation in the field of energy was signed in Tehran in June 2001 by Iran's energy minister and Syria's minister of electricity. The MoU includes joint projects on power production, transmission and distribution. Another MoU was signed by the end of the fifth Iran-Syria joint economic commission held in Damascus, partially related to energy. The MoUs were assessed at US dlrs 32 million and new agreements are currently under study. Kouzehchi said that Syria has called upon Iran's power network to join the project on joint regional power network which will cover several states including Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. He added that a number of Moshanir (Consulting) Company's consultants are currently visiting Syria to provide their Syrian counterparts with technical advice. Ahmadian arrived here Monday on a three-day visit and is expected to confer with Syrian authorities on the expansion of ties in the field of energy. The authorities of Iran's ministry of energy referred to Iran's unique position to export energy, electrical equipment as well as technical and engineering services to the regional countries but stressed that such an exceptional status should be directed towards national interests as well. Syria is currently the most significant market for Iran's electrical equipment and energy services. So far 25 agreements have been signed between the two countries, while 40 more are being discussed," IRNA reported.

Previous Stories:
  Iran ratifies trade agreement with Syria   (12/10/2001)
  Syrian minister of electricity in Tehran for talks on cooperation   (5/28/2001)
  Damascus starts paying Iranian debts   (6/23/1999)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search