Petroleum minister briefs Bangladeshi adviser on efforts to secure fuel supplies amid global challenges
Pakistan, Bangladesh discuss energy security, measures to tackle crisis. Photo: APP
Pakistan on Tuesday offered to share its experience in managing the global energy crisis with Bangladesh as Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Bangladesh’s Adviser on Finance Rashid Al Mehmood Titumir discussed fuel supply challenges and the impact of disruptions on international energy markets.
During a meeting, both sides discussed their strategies to manage the unprecedented energy crisis, ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies, and reduce the impact of rising uncertainty in energy markets on their economies, according to a press release.
Malik briefed the Bangladeshi advisor on Pakistan’s efforts to secure fuel supplies amid challenging global circumstances. He also shared details of the government’s initiatives, including targeted fuel subsidies, to provide relief to the public while managing the impact of the crisis.
Titumir shared the steps taken by Bangladesh to ensure fuel security and address emerging challenges, saying the current crisis had brought energy security to the forefront of policymaking.
He stressed the need to make it a central part of national energy strategies, and highlighted the importance of diversifying energy sources and supply routes to strengthen resilience against global disruptions. The Bangladeshi advisor appreciated Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict involving Iran.
He said de-escalation was essential for global economic stability, as the crisis was affecting economies and energy markets worldwide. He also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to secure LNG cargoes from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz despite challenging circumstances.
Read: Govt mulls $2b LNG import decision
The petroleum minister described the situation as an unprecedented energy crisis. He stressed the importance of preparedness, diversification and regional cooperation in dealing with global energy disruptions.
He expressed Pakistan’s willingness to share its experiences and lessons with Bangladesh to help it manage the energy crisis and strengthen energy security.
Both sides stressed the importance of continued engagement and sharing experiences to address common energy challenges and build greater resilience against future global supply disruptions.
‘Closed for debt but open for business in equity’
A day earlier, Titumir proposed a five-point development paradigm for South Asia to deal with disruptive geopolitical challenges, emphasising that legitimacy matters for becoming a welfare state.
In his keynote speech at the annual Sustainable Development Policy Conference, Titumir said regional countries needed to reconstruct the fiscal state, reposition industrial policies and build multilateral cooperation.
He said there was a need to rethink conventional fiscal consolidation, whose purpose should be to preserve the state’s capacity to invest in the future, not simply to minimise public expenditure.
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Dr Musadiq Malik shared those concerns, saying debt-driven growth was unacceptable as servicing was eating half the country’s revenues.
“I would propose that we could come up with a South Asian framing of a new development paradigm,” with at least five strategic priorities, Titumir said.
He proposed moving from efficiency-driven development to resilience-oriented development, saying recent crises showed that efficiency without resilience creates significant vulnerabilities.
Read more: Pakistan, Qatar close to revised LNG deal
Titumir also proposed repositioning industrial policy as an instrument of structural transformation, saying the challenge was no longer simply to attract investment. “It is to attract investment that builds domestic capabilities, generates employment, transfers technology, and strengthens linkages with the wider economy,” he said.
He called for a production network where South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa work together across primary, intermediate and finished goods, while remaining mindful of an active industrial policy.
He suggested reconstructing the fiscal state and rethinking development financing, saying the state’s capacity to mobilise and allocate resources was becoming a critical determinant of national resilience. Developing countries, he said, needed stronger domestic revenue mobilisation, more efficient spending, modernised public financial management and more sophisticated capital markets.
His fourth proposal placed human capabilities and employment at the centre of economic transformation.
Fifth, he also stressed multilateral cooperation, saying no country, irrespective of economic or military strength, can independently resolve challenges such as climate change, pandemics, financial instability, technological governance, international taxation and maritime security.
Sharing Bangladesh’s experience, the finance adviser said: “The foremost lesson that we have learned in Bangladesh, if we are to say it in a single sentence, is that legitimacy matters.”
“Legitimacy must originate from the people. So what we are trying to do is come up with a prime ministerial vision of a Bangladesh which is democratic, which is humane, and which has a welfare state,” he said.
