Lima, Nov. 16, 2004. Andean Community Secretary General Allan Wagner put forward the bases for an Andean energy alliance today during the inauguration of the Second Meeting of the CAN Council of Ministers of Energy, Electricity, Hydrocarbons, and Mines.

Peruvian Energy Minister Glodomiro Sánchez, –who chairs the Andean Community Council of Ministers of Energy, Electricity, Hydrocarbons, and Mines-- opened the meeting, with the presence of high-level representatives of the Energy and Mines sectors of the Andean countries.

Wagner proposed that the meeting move ahead and draw up a working plan based on the guidelines for action laid down by the Ministers of Energy at their successful meeting in Quito that would make it possible to build the Andean strategic energy alliance. "This objective is a priority task of this Council because it cannot be created by decree, but only through intensive efforts,” he insisted.

He pointed out, in this connection, that efforts must be made to build integrated energy markets through physical networks and harmonized regulatory systems and to carve out a position in international hydrocarbon markets in a strategic context of energy security.

Wagner went on to add that it is essential to promote private business development in the Andean countries through “energy clusters” and to establish a framework for energy negotiations in the WTO, as well as to develop the renewable energy sources and to associate them with environmental issues and the Integrated Social Development Plan (PIDS).

Peru’s Energy Minister Glodomiro Sanchez, for his part, stated that the volatility of international oil prices and their impact on our countries “clearly reveals the undeniable advisability of building an energy alliance to reinforce the stability of economic development and the wellbeing of our nations.”

He reported that, complying with commitments assumed in the CAN, Peru and Ecuador are on the verge of putting the Zorritos-Machala transmission line into operation for the electricity interconnection of the two countries, although, because of its initial technical conditions, this link is only the first step toward the integration of the electric systems per se.

"For Peru, this is the start of a new stage in the process of Andean energy integration and in the development of electricity activities,” he emphasized, announcing the forthcoming promulgation of the Electricity import and export regulations (RIEE) that will facilitate electricity transactions.”