ISLAMABAD: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) with USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) in Washington, D.C. held a workshop with the Government of Pakistan and private energy developers to encourage financing for new private clean energy projects. At the workshop, USAID/Pakistan Deputy Mission Director Karen Hunter said, “USAID will provide up to a 50 percent guarantee for loans made by banks to qualified clean energy projects. Together, we hope to unlock the investment potential in Pakistan’s energy sector in previously unserved or under-served sectors.” In September 2016, USAID entered into a fifteen-year partnership agreement with four private commercial banks in Pakistan to establish a loan guarantee facility to support clean energy projects. Through the partnership with Faysal Bank, JS Bank, MCB, and Meezan Bank, USAID will empower the private sector to invest in clean energy solutions. The US government supports private investment in Pakistan’s energy sector by financing transmission upgrades for wind power projects, debt financing to wind projects through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and holding international investment conferences. The U.S government has also assisted the rehabilitation and completion of power generation companies and hydropower dams and the commercialization of distribution companies. USAID’s Development Credit Authority works with financial institutions to open existing sources of local finance in underserved markets. Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2018.