10 September 2009: The e8 group of electric utility companies, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) recently convened a conference on “Financing Sustainable Electrification: South and South-East Asia Dialogues,” in Bangkok, Thailand.

The aim of the conference, which met from 8-10 September 2009, was to begin and enable a dialogue on knowledge and expertise transfer among energy companies and other relevant actors around the world, especially in the areas of service provision and investment attraction. Discussions were to be centered on political, institutional and financial hindrances to electrification project investment and the creation of appropriate regulatory and policy framework strategies to overcome them. [Conference website]