ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: A meeting of the joint ministerial commission of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan will be held here in December to discuss bilateral trade and investment opportunities, particularly in the power sector.

Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan Nurlan Aitmurzaev called on Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf here on Saturday and discussed with him opportunities of mutual cooperation in the power generation sector.

Mr Ashraf said the meeting would help explore new ways of bilateral cooperation.The minister invited the Kyrgyz government and companies to invest in energy sector in Pakistan as the sector had great potential and foreign companies which had already invested here were getting handsome returns.

He said that Pakistan was facing energy crisis and all measures were being taken by the government to bridge the gap between the demand and supply.

The government was focusing on coal, hydropower and alternative resources like wind and solar to generate electricity at affordable prices.

He said the Kyrgyzstan expertise in hydroelectric power generation would benefit Pakistan.Mr Ashraf accepted invitation of the Kyrgyzstan’s minister for energy to visit the country next month to discuss investment opportunities and to enhance electricity link between the Central Asian Republics and the South Asian countries.

The minister stressed the need to explore possibilities for cooperation in other sectors, particularly tourism.

He said that both the countries should exchange delegations to promote tourism between the two countries.