Mohamad Abdo Saeed, “Enormous Potential Arab Investments in the Energy field”

"The demand for electricity in the Arab world is witnessing a huge increase, which requires vast amount of investments in terms of electricity capacity generation from the Arab countries’ side," highlighted the President of the Union of Arab Chambers, Mohamad Abdo Saeed. He recalled, “The latest statistics of the Arab world indicate that the region needs to generate about 227k Megawatts of Energy by 2035.”

During the opening ceremony of the 9th Arab-German Energy Forum, Mr. Saeed announced, "The forum represents an important platform for exchanging experiences between Arab countries and Germany, whose giant companies have acquired a unique and pioneering experience in terms of making a sustainable contribution towards environment protection and energy supplies."

He added on, "We look forward to increasing the level of cooperation in the Energy sector between the Arab and German entities as it represents a common interest for both parties, especially in the field of Renewable Energy. The Arab experience in the development of energy and electricity sector, particularly UAE and Morocco, acts as a role model for the Arab region. In parallel, Germany’s great experience in this vital sector, through its giant companies, including Siemens, has a huge potential to help achieving the Arab development in this sector, namely, by improving energy distribution efficiently, energy digitization techniques and smart counters use, and integration of distribution networks, in ways to achieve more efficient energy consumption."

 

Desouky

"The Forum will be a good opportunity to exchange views and discuss future plans to reach a common understanding that will enable us to strengthen and expand our cooperation," said H.E. Gaber Desouky , Chairman of the Egyptian Electricity Holding company - on behalf of the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy - while expressing his appreciation for the positive and continuous cooperation between Germany and the Arab countries in the Energy sector and in Renewables, in particular.

Desouky praised the distinguished relations on various levels of cooperation between Egypt and Germany, stressing that the Energy sector in Germany is among the most creative and successful one in the world.

 

Ramsauer

Peter Ramsauer, President of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated: "Germany is an important partner for whoever is looking to expand electricity networks with respect to the growing demand on housing in the Arab world. The Arab world is still looking for long-term cooperation to diversify its sources of energy and raise efficiency and expansion for further development, explaining that the need for electricity in the Arab countries is growing rapidly while capacity-building has become a priority in the Arab countries."

"While carefully inspecting this expansion, there should be huge investments to meet the needs," he added. "We, in Germany, regard cooperation with Arab countries as a priority even in the future."

"The Forum provides a unique opportunity to obtain information on current and future projects from their sources and to exchange ideas, solutions and experiences on the basis of cooperation and partnership." He pointed out, "A lot of accomplishments has been made as a result of the Arab-German cooperation in the energy sector, and German companies with their expertise and technologies can provide solutions to complex problems as well as in this vital field."

Al Wakil

Ahmed Al Wakil, President of the General Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce stated “Energy from electricity, gas & oil is the locomotive of development” and that"Egypt is not only covering its own electricity and gas needs, but it is also able to cover the needs of serious industries, development and energy exports," he said. Revealing "Egypt hopes to become a regional center for electricity and gas for the east Mediterranean countries."

Al Wakil presented what Egypt witnessed in recent years, such as the discovery of Zohr natural gas field in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea, investments in the fertilizer and petrochemical sector and the diversification of energy sources, including solar energy, and cooperation with German technology companies.

He also pointed out that the last period witnessed the demarcation of the border in the Mediterranean Sea with Greece and Cyprus, where the field of “Zohr” and other new fields have been discovered. These fields produce 661 thousand barrels of oil per day out of the reserves of 3.7 billion barrels. Which constitutes 67% of what is locally refined. In addition to 6 billion cubic meters of Gas from a reserve of 36.8 trillion barrels, compared to 30 trillion from the field of “Zohr” that will get Egypt to start exporting again in 2019. Also, this production is expected to increase after the demarcation of the maritime border with Saudi Arabia where the oil sector will constitute more than 7% of the GDP.

He added: "The electric connection is underway with Saudi Arabia, Africa and Europe, in line with the current gas lines with Jordan and the future gas lines with Cyprus and Greece and the Sumed pipeline. Egypt will become an energy hub in the region and a main station of electricity and gas component in the Belt and Road Initiative."

 

Kamal Hassan Ali

The Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs of the Arab League, Kamal Hassan Ali, pointed out the importance of the oil industry, which is the main source of national income for most Arab countries in addition to being the main engine of the global economy.

"The proven reserves of oil in the Arab countries at the end of 2017 constitute about 50 percent of the world's reserves and their production represents about 30 percent of world production," Ali said. "The Arab reserves of natural gas during the same period constitute about 28 percent of the world's proven reserves, while the gas marketed from the Arab countries accounted for about 16 percent of the quantities of gas marketed globally."

He also pointed out that "The recent years have seen increasing interest by Arab countries to diversify energy sources, especially after studies have shown that the Arab region has abundant sources of renewable energy, especially solar energy due to the occurrence of most Arab countries in the solar belt area." Explaining that "The electricity program and the frequency of its interruption due to lack of investment represents a challenge in the region and in developing countries in general." He noted the Arab countries' efforts to establish a joint Arab electricity market. A memorandum of understanding was signed by 16 Arab countries in April 2017 to start establishing this market".

He explained that "The Arab Ministerial Council for Electricity and its executive office noticed the importance of the issues of renewable energy and energy efficiency, by working on expanding the Arab strategy to develop renewable energy integrations." Stressing that "the achievements made by the Arab countries would not have been successful without the availability of the efforts of our international and regional partners," noting the fruitful support and cooperation provided by Germany in order to complete the march of joint Arab action.

 

Working Sessions

A number of working sessions have been held during the forum. These sessions aimed at presenting visions and ideas about strengthening Arab-German trade relations in the energy sector. It also serves as a platform for communication between Arab and German companies in the energy sector with the participation of prominent businessmen and investors from the Arab and German sides.

The working sessions also discussed several issues related to the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the energy system, factors of success, technologies and challenges facing modern energy systems as well as ways of cooperation.