From Siti Radziah Hamzah
TASHKENT, June 24 (Bernama) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has been urged to consider re-investing in Uzbekistan to boost the republic’s oil and gas sector.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the Uzbekistan government had submitted an official request to Malaysia for Petronas to reconsider investing in the republic.
“They (Uzbekistan) expressed their desire for Petronas to be involved again in gas investments in Uzbekistan. I agreed to bring the request back to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) for consideration.
“I also discussed how we want to improve technical capabilities in the energy sector. That is why they (Uzbekistan) send a lot of students to universities in Malaysia, especially Universiti Teknologi Petronas and so on,” he said at a press conference, concluding a four-day working visit to the republic that began on Saturday.
In mid-2013, Petronas withdrew from the production sharing agreements in the Ustyurt region and the Baysun Investment Block Development in the Surkhandarya region.
In 2014, Petronas closed its representative office in Uzbekistan.
Fadillah, who is also Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said that during his meeting with Uzbekistan's Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov, the country also expressed its desire to establish a specialised university to produce more experts in the fields of electrical and renewable energy such as the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten).
“So we agreed to help them and we proposed Uniten as one of the models for them to implement it. Later, they will send their team to visit and see how to develop the curriculum and also how this expertise can be shared,” he added.
The Uzbek government also proposed that more students from that country be given the opportunity to continue their studies at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, in line with efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of education.
-- BERNAMA
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