RP joins effort to raise energy efficiency in Asean

Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said yesterday the Philippines has agreed to intensify collaborative efforts with its ASEAN counterparts to improve energy efficiency and conservation.

Perez, who attended the 19th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting last week, said the member countries are one in saying that energy efficiency could be achieved by pushing for further development, application and commercialization of new and renewable energy, which offer great potentials greenhouse gas emission mitigation and abatement.

"There is a need to pursue collaborative efforts at the regional level to address this concern," he said.

According to Perez, ASEAN member countries have been urged to build a culture of partnership, competitiveness and innovation, as well as improve access to finance and investment to support the growth of these two sectors.

"Member countries are also urged to continue liberalizing the energy markets to ensure affordable energy prices and to attract investment for the development of energy infrastructures, with due recognition to the environment," he said.

Aside from the Philippines, other countries that participated in the meeting were: Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

He said they also exchanged views on the development implications of energy services. In this regard, he said the ministers shared the view that member countries could look into this concern in the light of their respective national energy policies and programs.

The energy secretary said the AMEM also underscored the importance of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) to bridge, among others, the capacity gap between the old and the newer ASEAN member countries.

In line with the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline project, he said they have agreed to intensify the promotion of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation at the private sector level to increase its participation in providing investment and in realizing commercially viable ventures.

"They also stressed the need to seek financial institutional support for bilateral power interconnection projects," he said.

So far, there are three ASEAN power interconnection projects that are scheduled for commissioning and operation in the next three years. These are: stage II links between Thailand-Peninsular Malaysia, Vietnam-Cambodia, and Thailand-Cambodia. – Donnabelle Gatdula