ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Energy opens

The 28th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (SOME 28) opened in the resort city of Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, on July 19.

The conference is the first event to be held under the framework of the 28 th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM 28), which will last until July 23.

At the SOME meeting, the delegates will discuss major issues included in the ASEAN 2010-2015 energy cooperation programme, including regional electricity grids, a transnational gas pipeline, coal and clean coal technologies, energy conservation, alternative energy resources and regional energy policies.

All agreements reached at the SOME 28 will be submitted to the AMEM 28, which begins on July 22.

Other related meetings, namely the SOME 28+3 (Japan, the RoK and China), the SOME 28 + Russia and the US, the East Asia Summit Energy Ministers Meeting, the Cambodian, Laos and Vietnamese Energy Minister’s Meeting and talks between Ministers and Chief Executive Officers will also take place.

An exhibition on energy, an ASEAN energy forum and an awards ceremony to honour businesses for using energy efficiently will also take place on the sidelines of the AMEM 28.

The AMEM 28, themed “energy savings and climate change,” will see the participation of 500 delegates, including the energy ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, India, New Zealand and Australia as well as officials from the US and Russia plus representatives from the business community.