By IANS,
New Delhi : The eighth edition of Asia’s largest petroleum exhibition and conference, beginning Jan 11, may see a smaller delegation due to economic slowdown and fears over terror attacks, but ministers from 11 countries will attend the event, organisers said here.
The five-day ‘Petrotech-2009’ will be inaugurated here Jan 12 by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will open the exhibition at Pragati Maidan, a day earlier.
The theme of the biennial conference is ‘Energy Independence with Global Cooperation: Challenges and Solutions’.
According to Indian Oil Corp director (human resources) V.C. Agrawal, one of the main organisers: “We were targeting around 600-700 delegates. But, due to events that took place recently in the country, we have around 400 delegates from abroad for the conference.”
In total, there will be around 4,000 participants in the conference, including those from India’s public and private sector companies.
Earlier, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) chairman R.S. Sharma said while the actual number of delegates could be smaller due to the economic slowdown, there would be a bigger presence of ministers from strategic countries.
Ministers from countries like Iran, Libya, Sudan and Afghanistan will participate in the conference. A special ministerial meet will be held Jan 14 to be chaired by the petroleum minister.
A chief executives’ conclave will also be held during the conference Jan 14, to be chaired by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The valedictory speech will be delivered by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar.