On the 17th of October 2017, the South Asia IAEE-NSU Summit 2017 was held at the North South University campus.

Organized by the joint efforts between the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) and the Department of Economics at North South University (NSU), this summit held panel discussions on the crucial energy sector issues of the country and also shed light on international policies and practices regarding energy provision and access. The summit hosted a number of high officials from the government sector, eminent academicians, and researchers, present & immediate past president of IAEE, donor agencies, & private sector energy experts.

The summit was divided into four plenary sessions followed by a closing ceremony. The opening plenary session talked about South Asian Energy Challenges, beginning at 9:30 am, and lasting till 11:15 am.

The session began with a welcoming address by the summit chair Dr. Md. Ismail Hossain, Chairman, Department of Economics, and Dr. Ricardo Raineri, President IAEE and co-chair of the summit, and then had speeches from the rest of the panel, moderated by Dr. Mohammad Tamim, Professor and Head, Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

The other distinguished panelists of this session were Mr. Rahamat Ullah Mohd. Dastagir, Additional Secretary, Power Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Professor Dr. Gour Gobinda Goswami, Professor, Department of Economics and Treasurer, North South University, Mr. Tazmilur Rahman, Senior Sector Specialist Energy at KfW and Mr. Daniel Ciganovic, Director Business Development, ME Solshare LTD.

After a short coffee break, the second plenary session started at 11.30, which had the theme of Energy Access and ended at 1 pm. Moderator for the session was Dr. Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG). Mr. Mohammad Hossain, Director General, Power Cell, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dr. Saiful Huque, Professor and Director, Institute of Energy, Dhaka University and Dr. Sebastian Groh, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, North South University were the panel discussants of this session.

Following the lunch break, the third plenary session began at 2:30 pm with the main theme of discussion being The Role of Institutions and the Regulatory Framework for Energy Development, and moderator Dr. Gürkan Kumbaroğlu, Immediate Past President of IAEE and Professor at Boğaziçi University.

Honorable Chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), Mr. Monowar Islam was one of the panel discussants of this session. The other panelists of this session were Mr. Tanvir. A. Siddiqui, Vice President and Unit Head, Large Infrastructure Unit, Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), Mr. S M Zahid Hasan, Component Manager of GIZ Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme (REEEP) and Dr. Sakib Bin Amin, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, North South University.

The fourth and final plenary session of the day, at 4:15 pm, was focused on Access to Finance, and was moderated by Dr. Ricardo Raineri himself. The distinguished panelists of this session were Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus, Secretary, Power Division, Power Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Shams Zaman, Corporate and Investment Banking Head, Citibank NA, Mr. Thomas Holzapeel, Executive Director, Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG and Mr. Munawar Misbah Moin, Managing Director, Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd.

Following the four plenary sessions, there was a closing ceremony. The chief guest of the closing session was Mr. Nasrul Hamid, MP, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Power, Mineral and Energy Resources, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. He presented an invigorating speech on the importance of renewable energy and the access to electricity, highlighting Bangladesh's progress to the point at which it is now. He also involved students observing the closing ceremony in voicing their ideas on innovative financing for energy projects to reach the 2021 and 2041 visions of the government in the energy sectors.

He urged participation and active involvement of the students in making energy conservation and efficiency a priority issue. He thanked all of the speakers and the organizers of the event and hoped this kind of energy summit to discuss global issues of energy will become a more regular occurrence. The Guests of Honor of the event was Mr. Benajir Ahmed, Founder Life Member, Board of Trustees, North South University. Respected Vice Chancellor of North South University Professor Dr. Atique Islam was the session chair of the closing session.

The Special Guests for the event included Dr. Ricardo Raineri, President of IAEE, and Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Dr. Gürkan Kumbaroğlu, Immediate Past President of IAEE, Professor at Boğaziçi University; Professor Dr. Gias Uddin Ahsan, Pro Vice Chancellor (Designated), North South University, Dr. Mohammad Mahboob Rahman, Dean, School of Business and Economics, NSU and Mr. Faisal Karim Khan, Additional Managing Director, Summit Corporation.

The summit concluded by a vote of thanks from the convener, Dr. Sakib Bin Amin who is an Assistant Professor in Department of Economics at NSU and an active member of IAEE.

The Title Sponsor for this event was Summit Group. Elite Paint was the Décor Partner of this event. Broadcast Media Partner of the energy summit was Channel 24, Print Media Partner was Daily Sun and Radio Partner was Radio Shadhin 92.4. The summit was supported by NSU Young Economists’ Forum (YEF).