Energy ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian nations held their first meeting since the adoption of the ASEAN connectivity plan to discuss energy security efforts to foster the realization of a single regional community by 2015.
There is a need to boost infrastructural connectivity to open new market opportunities, bolster overall energy security, facilitate energy trade, and promote a robust East Asian energy connectivity, said Mohammad Yasmin Umar, Minister of Energy of Brunei Darussalam, during the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting, which he chaired.
During the conference held in Jerudong, Brunei Darussalam, in mid-September 2011, the participants agreed to the following:
- Find ways to increase renewable energy sources and new energy technologies to ensure the region’s continued resilience and growth amid increasing energy challenges.
- Develop a high-performing institution within the region to provide options and strategies in the building of a coherent, coordinated, and focused energy agenda.
- Build a stronger cooperation among ASEAN member-states and with the region’s external partners to facilitate more oil and gas trading within the region.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between Maria van de Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency, and Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, affirming IEA’s support for ASEAN’s research and capacity building, and its assistance in implementing the association’s energy objectives under the ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation.
Photo by Arthur Chapman
