By Xinhua,
Bangkok : Thailand is host the 26th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) early next Month, in which the ten ASEAN member countries and regional partners are expected to tune up cooperative strategies to alleviate impact of the global energy crisis due to surging oil price.
The Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) comprises 10 member countries — Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
The AMEM is annually organized as a forum to promote regional collaboration on energy, which every member country will hosts in rotation in country name order. Singapore hosted last year’s meeting. Thailand follows, with the 26th AMEM and other related meetings to take place on Aug. 4-8 in Bangkok, which will also involve partners in the ASEAN+3 framework– China, Japan and South Korea, and those from the East Asia Summit (EAS) like India, Australia and New Zealand.
Ms. Poonpirom Liptapanlop, Thailand’s Minister of Energy, said at a press conference in Bangkok on Wednesday that her Ministry, as the host organizer of the meeting, will promote “Alternative Energy” as an ASEAN agenda, especially biofuels, where each ASEAN country has different outstanding sources, such as ethanol in Thailand and Malaysia and Palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.
The target is to “boost up the Alternative Energy utilization in the ASEAN region to reconfirm Thailand’s status as the leader of Alternative Energy in the region,” said Poonpirom.
“Thailand will also support the ASEAN Interconnectivity System through Power Transmission Lines System such as ASEAN Power Grid and Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline in the region to strengthen energy security for ASEAN in the long term,” said the minister.
Targets and work plans are expected to be consulted and agreed among ASEAN member countries.
During the meeting, the “ASEAN Energy Awards” for Excellence in Energy Management will be convened as a tradition. Thailand is to receive seven Winner Awards out of nine Awards for Energy Best Practices in Asia, according to the ministry.