WASHINGTON, July 29: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told a gathering of international investors on Tuesday that Pakistan needs to further develop its nuclear energy resources to deal with an acute energy shortage threatening to derail the national economy.

Mr Gilani presented an eight-point agenda at an investors’ roundtable at the World Bank to ensure a sustainable supply of energy at competitive prices to all sectors of the economy.

“Our government is committed to provide energy security to the people of Pakistan,” he said.

The United States is in the final stages of implementing a nuclear deal with India which will allow India to buy nuclear reactors from the US and other sources.

Pakistan seeks similar facilities but Washington refuses to offer such a deal to Islamabad because of the alleged involvement of the Khan network in nuclear proliferation.

In his speech to the investors, the prime minister also emphasised the need for enhancing regional cooperation for meeting the country’s energy needs.

“We firmly believe that regional cooperation in energy and power sector will create mutual dependencies which will lead to more stability and prosperity in the region,” he said.

“Recognising these opportunities, we are already working for regional gas pipelines as well as electricity transmission. We will welcome further investments in these areas.”

The prime minister’s strategy for dealing with energy shortage includes: enhancing exploitation of hydropower, developing coal reserves for power generation, encouraging use of renewable

energy resources, increasing emphasis on nu clear energy resources, accelerating production of indigenous oil and gas reserves, options to import gas through various alternates, encouraging use of CNG, LPG, and import of LNG to meet gas requirements and energy efficiency.

“Exponential surge in oil prices today is posing a serious challenge to growth,” said Mr Gilani.