DUSHANBE, August 14, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- On August 20, the republican Press Center in Dushanbe will host an international conference on problems of energy efficiency and rational use of energy resources, according to the MFA information department.

The conference organizers include Tajikistan’s ministries of foreign affairs and energy as well as the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

Experts and researchers from Central Asia’s states and Russia have been invited to attend the conference.

We will recall that Tajikistan is making shift to energy-saving light bulbs.  On April 24, 2009, President Emomali Rahmon signed a decree requiring nationwide shift to the energy-saving light bulbs beginning on May 1, 2009.  The government, local authorities, organizations and enterprises irrespective of forms of property are to provide switch to the energy-saving light bulbs by the end of this year.  Experts say that compared to general service incandescent lamps giving the same amount of visible light, the energy-saving light bulbs generally use less power, have a longer rated life, but a higher purchase price. The average rated life of the energy-saving light bulbs is between 8 and 15 times that of incandescents.