ASEAN reaffirms plan on energy cooperation

ASEAN reaffirms plan on energy cooperation

BANGKOK (Reuters): Ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations reaffirmed on Saturday a commitment to cooperate in
the energy sector despite difficulties caused by oversupply and
the regional economic crisis.

Energy and industry ministers of 10-member bloc, meeting in
Bangkok, resolved to hasten implementation of an action agenda
agreed at the December 1998 ASEAN summit and adopted an interim
action plan for energy cooperation running to 2004.

The ministers reaffirmed a commitment to developing an
integrated ASEAN energy network consisting of a regional power
grid and a trans-ASEAN gas pipeline, a statement said.

They recognized the need to establish an ASEAN power pool in
the future.

"The ministers noted that there are significant signs of
economic recovery in the region and underlined the importance of
strengthening collaboration in the energy sector to support
sustainable growth and regional economic integration in ASEAN,"
the statement said.

It said the economic crisis had hit such efforts hard.

"The decline in energy demand, the rise in energy prices in
terms of local currencies, and the financial crisis in some ASEAN
countries had substantial impacts on joint collaborative efforts
the in the energy sector, particularly the Trans-ASEAN Gas
Pipeline and the ASEAN Power Grid," it said.

Nevertheless the ministers welcomed the expansion of the power
grid to 14 interconnected projects, with the addition of four
linking Thailand and Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia, Laos and
Cambodia and Thailand and Cambodia.

ASEAN, which groups Thailand with Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines,
has set a target date of 2020 for completion of the pan-regional
pipeline and power grid.