OFID Director-General shares access to energy vision at 16th IEF Ministerial meeting in New Delhi, India

Vienna, Austria, April 18, 2018. The Director-General of OFID – the OPEC Fund for International Development – Suleiman J Al-Herbish recently shared his vision to support affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all at the world’s largest gathering of energy ministers and experts.

At the 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meeting in New Delhi, India, Al-Herbish stressed the importance of advocacy, operations on the ground and partnerships if the world is to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 on energy. Attending the event upon the invitation of India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and IEF Secretary General Dr Sun Xiansheng, Al-Herbish said that together, these three elements provide the best framework to effectively deliver affordable universal energy access.

The meeting was inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who called for a mutually supportive relationship between energy producers and consumers, and specifically for the optimal use of the IEF as a neutral platform to build a global consensus.

Al-Herbish drew attention to the 2016 launch of the Oil and Gas Industry Energy Access Platform – a joint effort between OFID and the World Petroleum Council – which aims to serve as a platform for oil and gas companies to lead the way in the fight against energy poverty. He also expressed his pride that OFID had been among those whose work had culminated in energy access being included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda as SDG 7, explaining the achievement would not have been possible without strategic collaborations and the joint efforts of like-minded institutions.

Al-Herbish explained that energy poverty alleviation was impossible without concerted and concrete efforts to deliver operations that meet specific needs, noting that OFID works with partner countries to prioritize universal access to sustainable modern energy services. He also described how OFID establishes formal partnerships with many organizations – including the World Bank, regional development banks and specialized agencies of the United Nations – to this end.