13 COUNTRIES OF THE REGION STARTED THE TRAINING ON ENERGY BALANCES

On February 11, 2008, 87 officials from the Ministries and Energy Secretariats of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela started to be trained on "Energy Balance Methodology," which is the first course of 2008 held by the Virtual Training Program (CAPEV).

The purpose of the course given by experts of OLADE is to acquaint participants with concepts and basic criteria needed to prepare national energy balances in terms of final energy, covering the bases of its development and the information requirements involved.

During the inauguration, the Executive Secretary of OLADE, Carlos Arturo Flórez Piedrahita, welcomed the participants and highlighted that the on-line course goes in accordance with the actions proposed by the Organization to achieve its mission: "contribute to integration, sustainable development and energy security of the Region by mentoring and promoting the cooperation and coordination among its Member Countries".

For his part, the Director of Integration, Erick Cabrera Castellanos, stated that CAPEV is one of the top-technology resources of OLADE that will be used to reinforce the regional and sub-regional integration process. Furthermore, he urged the countries to fully use this tool.