ASEAN PLAN OF ACTION FOR ENERGY COOPERATION 1999-2004

 

INTRODUCTION

ASEAN Member Countries have engaged in cooperation programmes, in the field of energy, through a series of plans of action in the 1990s, arising from the Fourth and Fifth ASEAN Summits. The ASEAN Medium Term Programme of Action on Energy Cooperation (1995-1999) was developed following the review of the Programme of Action for Enhancement of Cooperation in Energy (PAECE) endorsed in 1991. This medium term programme, adopted in October 1995, took into consideration a focused approach to ASEAN cooperation in the following areas: Electricity, Oil and Gas, Coal, New and Renewable Sources of Energy, and Energy Efficiency and Conservation, among others, through the established ASEAN coordinating bodies in each of these five cooperation areas, and in further pursuance of the Agreement of ASEAN Energy Cooperation of 1986.

The importance of ASEAN energy cooperation was further underscored in the 1995 Bangkok Summit Declaration, which stated "ASEAN shall ensure greater security and sustainability of energy supply through diversification, development and conservation of resources, the efficient use of energy, and the wider application of environmentally sound technologies". This was reinforced in the ASEAN Vision 2020, arising from the ASEAN Second Informal Summit in December 1997 in Kuala Lumpur, and calling for cooperation activities to "establish interconnecting arrangements for electricity, natural gas and water within ASEAN through the ASEAN Power Grid and a Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline, and promote cooperation in energy efficiency and conservation, as well as the development of new and renewable energy resources". The Hanoi Plan of Action of 1998 provided the direction towards this vision during the period 1999-2004. This direction is regarded as the general objective of the more detailed plan of action in this document.

This document is a product of deliberation by practically all who are concerned with the formulation, financing, implementation and management of international cooperation in energy in the ASEAN. The first version entitled ""Integrated Implementation Programme on ASEAN Energy Cooperation 1999-2004" was prepared by the ASEAN-EC Energy Management, Training and Research Centre (AEEMTRC) in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat in mid-1998. That version was circulated for about four months among the senior official's of energy of the ASEAN member countries until the Expert's Group Meeting that reviewed the document was held on November 24-25, 1998 in Jakarta, Indonesia. A special Meeting of the Senior Officials Meeting on Energy held on November 26, 1998, affirmed the recommendations of the Expert's Group, as follows:

  1. Change the title of the document to "ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 1999-2004",

  2. Merge the two programme areas: energy and environment, and policy formulation;

  3. Energy security and oil should not be treated as a separate programme area;

  4. Urge the ASEAN specialised bodies like ASCOPE, HAPUA, AEEMTRC, AFOC and the ASEAN subsector networks under SOME to further study the plan of action and submit to ACE the revised formulation by April 1999; and

  5. ACE to finalise the document in time for consideration and adoption during the SOME/17th AMEM in July 1999.

To ensure integration of all inputs from the specialised ASEAN bodies and to establish ownership of the various portions of the plan, ACE in collaboration with Singapore's Public Utilities Board and the ASEAN Secretariat conducted a Planning Workshop on the plan of action on 19-20 April, 1999. Representatives of the member countries and the subsectoral ASEAN bodies were involved. After further review by the specialized bodies the resulting draft goes to the Chairman and members of SOME one-month prior to the SOME/AMEM meetings.

In essence, this document is a product of several iterations consistent with the intent that the herein plan of action shall serve as a guide for the next six years in the identification, formulation and implementation of specific projects on energy cooperation of the ASEAN. It is understood that after approval of this document by SOME and AMEM, the specialised subsectoral ASEAN bodies shall take their respective responsibilities in the execution of this ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 1999-2004.