Awang Tengah leads Sarawak delegation to World Hydropower Congress in China

BEIJING (China), May 19, 2015 - A delegation from Sarawak Energy will share on Sarawak’s hydropower development efforts and progress at the 2015 World Hydropower Congress, a global premier event where hydropower leaders and experts converge.

The three-day congress aimed at advancing sustainable hydropower started today at the Kempinski Yanqi Lake complex here.  Representatives from the Sarawak Government also attended the conference, led by  Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, Minister of Public Utilities and Minister of Industrial Development.

Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan (centre), Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit (4th right) and other members of the delegation from Sarawak at the 2015 World Hydropower Congress.

Sarawak Energy’s delegates led by its Group CEO,  Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit, comprised personnel from the relevant departments who will engage in knowledge sharing sessions as well as enhance networking among the industry experts.

Datuk Torstein is scheduled to speak at a Plenary Session tomorrow on  “Development vs Sustainability: How can we find the right balance?” 

He will be speaking alongside several high profile panellists,  Bernard Barandereka, Energy Expert, African Union Commission, Giulio Boccaletti, Global Managing Director for Water, The Nature Conservancy,  Zhou Jianping, Chief Engineer, Power China and moderated by James Dalton, Coordinator of Global Initiatives IUCN Water Programme.

The session is intended to elicit a range of opinions on the need for sustainability when development priorities are highly pressing in some regions. It also seeks to identify the factors that enable development to proceed rapidly yet sustainably among others.

Also speaking at the congress will be Mohamad Irwan Aman, Sustainability Manager, Sarawak Energy in the session “Sustainability Performance: How does it influence decisions?”.

This session intends to showcase the potential of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol in assessing sustainability performance and providing a platform for dialogue.

He will be speaking among panellists  Pablo Cardinale, Principal Specialist, Environmental, Social and Governance, IFC, Le Thi Ngoc Quynh, Deputy Director, EVN, Wang Xianguang, General Manager, Quality and HSE Department, China International Water and Electric Corp (CWE),  Elisa Xiao, Principal Consultant, ERM Impact Assessment and Planning Team.

The session will be moderated by Jamie Skinner, Water Team Leader, International Institute for Environment and Development.

The congress, organised by the International Hydropower Association (IHA), will feature high-level panel discussions and interactive debates in over 25 sessions. It will also feature an exhibition from players of the industry in which Sarawak Energy also has a booth to showcase the company’s projects, progress, corporate social responsibility efforts and importantly its initiatives on sustainability.

Also sharing inputs in the congress are non-governmental organisations like WWF, The Nature Conservancy, Transparency International and UNESCO- IHE (Institute for Water Education) among others which are crucial for sustainable development.

Sarawak Energy is a proud member of IHA since 2010 and being a sustainability partner, the state-owned utility is committed to implement its projects in accordance to the guidelines set up by the IHA protocol. The adoption of these best practices is on a voluntary basis and goes far beyond the strict legislative requirements.

As such, Sarawak Energy supports the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy agenda by harnessing the abundant hydroelectricity resources in a sustainable manner, compliant with Sarawak and Malaysian law and guided by international best practices.

At the Congress,  Awang Tengah will represent Chief Minister  Tan Srin Adenan Satem at Day 3 Opening Plenary on the topic of “Assessing Demand and Opportunities: Asia”.  This session brings together a range of high level country-specific perspectives to give a diverse overview of the development and investment picture across Asia.