An Afghan trade delegation reviews investment opportunities in renewable energy activities
Eng. Najeeb bin Abdullah Al-Saihati, a member of the board of directors of the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce, stressed the depth of Saudi-Afghan relations, and the two countries' keenness to enhance bilateral relations by holding partnerships in several fields, including trade and economic relations.
Al-Saihati said during a meeting held by the Chamber to the Afghan trade delegation that specializes in renewable energy activities and chaired by the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the Kingdom, Mr. Jalal Karim, on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, that the energy sector has become very prominent, especially with the Kingdom's transition to investing in energy fields, according to its vision 2030.
During the meeting, which was moderated by the Secretary-General of the Chamber, Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Wabil, and attended by the commercial attache at the embassy, Riad Sadat, and the President of the National Electricity Company in Afghanistan, Amanullah Ghalib, the Al-Saihati called on the Afghan companies to explore investment opportunities in the Kingdom and to establish partnerships with Saudi businessmen to benefit from this field. In both countries, pointing to a number of investment opportunities in the Kingdom supported by a package of facilities provided by Saudi Arabia to foreign investors.
Al-Saihati pointed out that Saudi Arabia, with its 2030 vision, focused heavily on developing renewable energy. He said that the Kingdom has set a target to generate 58.7 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2030.
For his part, Afghan Ambassador Syed Jalal Karim said that the meeting discussed that Afghanistan is seeking to hold investments aimed at developing the energy sector, especially renewable energy. He called on Saudi companies to work to explore investment opportunities in other economic sectors in Afghanistan, including projects to develop agriculture and infrastructure
Karim said that Afghanistan recently unveiled an ambitious plan to generate a total of 2214 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources, including 2,000 megawatts from solar energy, 160 megawatts from wind and 54 megawatts from biomass. He pointed out that Afghanistan has the capacity to produce more than 222,000 megawatts of electricity using solar panels, where the average annual solar sunbathing ranges from 4 to 6.5 kilowatts / m2 / day, with more than 300 days of sunlight per year. The country also has the potential to produce more than 66,000 megawatts of electricity by installing and using wind turbines.
