The Director, SAARC Secretariat, Ali Haider Altaf opened the Second Meeting of the SAARC Energy Regulators and in accordance with the SAARC practice, the leader of the delegation of the host country, Sri Lanka, was elected as Chairperson of the SAARC Energy Regulators Meeting.
At the Second meeting, delegations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan made presentations on the existing Regulatory Mechanisms, Rules, Methodologies and Processes of respective Member States.
SAARC Energy Centre (SEC) which is the technical arm of SAARC Secretariat delivered a presentation on the activities of the Centre and the way forward.
The Second meeting also reviewed and updated the SAARC Plan of Action on Energy Regulations (Electricity) to address the regulatory issues and remove possible regulatory barriers for cross-border trade/exchange of electricity among the SAARC Member States.
The members also agreed to have a Regional Regulatory Body to oversee the harmonization/ coordination of regulation, codes and standards for the electricity grid, tariff determination principals and dispute resolutions.
It was also decided that the SAARC Secretariat may prepare a calendar for the meetings of National Energy Regulatory Authorities of the member states and circulate to all national focal points by March 2016.
The Meeting of SAARC Energy Regulators was proposed at a SAARC Energy Ministers Meeting held in 2011.
SAARC energy ministers, senior officials, expert group have been meeting periodically to enforce the issue of regional energy corporation.
It was felt that meetings and interactions among the policy makers and experts are not sufficient in this connection.
It was recognized interactions and dialogues have to be established among the stake holders of the sector including the regulators in the member states in order to effectively materialize the issue of Regional Energy Corporation.
Accordingly it was proposed that SAARC energy regulators should meet periodically in line with meetings of ministers/senior officials and other energy related groups/committee under the SAARC framework at a SAARC Energy Ministers Meeting held in Dhaka (Sep 2011).
The first meeting of SAARC energy regulators was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2014.