Activities of SAFIR

To promote information exchange and experience sharing among member regulators, SAFIR conducts different activities. Some of the SAFIR activities are mentioned below:-

Core Training Program

SAFIR’s most visible activity is the Core Course on Infrastructure Regulation. The core course is aimed at utility regulators and their staff, senior government officials working on the reform of the infrastructure sectors, and executives from public and private regulated infrastructure service providers. The core course delivers practical lessons on the regulation and restructuring of infrastructure from within and outside the region. It also provides an ideal opportunity for participants to exchange their own experiences and to build networks within the region.

a) Participants

The training course is designed for a select group of participants from government departments, regulatory agencies, regulated agencies, private institutions concerned with the infrastructure sector such as power, telecommunications, water, and transport from the South Asia region. Participants from other regions can also apply. All participants receive a certificate on completion of the course.

b) Course format

The core training course comprises 2 to 5 full days of lectures, sector-specific case studies, practical exercises, and panel discussions with utility experts. A typical day will feature a combination of four plenary sessions or a combination of plenary and sector breakout sessions or only breakout sessions. The topics are presented in a manner that emphasizes their interrelationship. Lessons are drawn from cross-sectoral comparisons and national experiences.

The major conceptual issues are presented in plenary lectures, which use case studies from within and outside the South Asia region. Sectoral breakout sessions are used for the in-depth examination of sector-specific applications of these principles, and are presented by sector experts who have hands- on experience of regulating or restructuring the sector. The course has a particular emphasis on hands- on and interactive teaching methods, and the participants will spend much of their time working in small groups on the preparation of a mock price control case study, using financial models and realistic briefing material.

Annual General Meeting

An AGM (Annual General Meeting) of the SAFIR members is held in the form of an annual Executive Committee Meeting. One of the sessions in this conference is devoted to seeking the views of all members on SAFIR’s functioning, role, and future directions. Other sessions are used to discuss the general trends in the reforms process and key challenges that should be addressed.

Extraordinary General Meeting

These meetings would be convened by Chairperson, SAFIR through the Secretariat to consider specific matters of urgency and importance.