A three-day international seminar, jointly organised by Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and the Chinese Embassy, on Small Hydropower Development Planning for South Asian Countries kicked off here today.

The seminar aims at sharing knowledge and experiences of South Asian countries on the development of small scale hydroelectricity projects.

Inaugurating the seminar, Energy Minister Janardan Sharma expected that the seminar would be helpful in producing technical human resources, enhancing their capacity and searching for fresh human resources required for the development of small scale hydropower projects.

Energy Ministry’s joint-secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said Nepal witnessed a significant move with the revelation of a 99-point action and a 27-point programme on energy crisis by the government last year.

Director of SAARC Secretariat Ajay Kumar said the 16th Colombo SAARC Summit had introduced a substantive strategy for the development of energy sector and works were going on accordingly.

Charge d’ Affairs of the Chinese Embassy Peng Wei said technology and other development achieved by China could motivate other countries to gain such achievements and China was ready to help developing-countries in this regard.

Thirty representatives from various countries including Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are taking part in the seminar.