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Accelerating Off-grid Renewable Energy Investment Opportunities in the Philippines – GGGI and Embassy of the Republic of Korea co-organized a multi-stakeholder seminar

Taguig City, Philippines, July 17, 2019 – The Global Green Growth Institute co-organized a joint seminar with the Embassy of Republic of Korea (RoK) in the Philippines, titled Offgrid Renewable Energy Solutions: Driver of Agriculture Value Chain Development on 17 July 2019.

H.E Han Dong-man, Ambassador of the RoK to the Philippines, opened the seminar highlighting the imminent need of providing concrete ways of renewable energy solutions particularly to the disadvantaged rural areas in the Philippines, in the context of achieving the SDGs.

This special seminar served as a venue to discuss investment and policy bottlenecks and project pipeline for providing efficient, effective, and stable off-grid energy solutions to the rural areas of the Philippines where 7 to 12 million people are without proper access to electricity.

Kwon Sei-joong, Director General of the Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Scientific Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, congratulated that the event, like this seminar, provides opportunities for the Governments of the Philippines and Republic of Korea to work together, share knowledge, and explore innovative ways to achieve energy paradigm shifts while pursuing local economic development. He added that “The work to be done by GGGI Philippines would be crucial onwards.”

GGGI’s Deputy Director-General Hyoeun Jenny Kim, in her keynote speech, highlighted, “renewable energy is a viable solution given geophysical characteristics of the Philippines and global trend of declining price of solar technologies,” and that “this renewable energy intervention in the off-grid areas will not only deal with electricity needs but also create jobs while contributing other sectors like agri-food sector, whose entire value chain requires energy in all steps.”

The seminar brought together a wide range of stakeholders in a packed room with approx. 100 participants from government agencies, developers, and investors who are interested in off-grid energy solutions, notably Climate Change Commission, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, KOICA, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Hanwha Q-Cells, Hyosung Heavy Industry Corporation, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Public Private Partnership Center, MSMEs representatives, among others.