March 14th, 2023

ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and Korea Nuclear Association (KNA) are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the ASEAN Centre for Energy’s headquarter in Jakarta, Indonesia. The signing ceremony marked the beginning of a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing human resource capacity development for nuclear power generation and clean energy utilisation in ASEAN, in line with the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) Phase 2: 2021-2025.

The ceremony was attended by the leaders from both ACE and KNA, including Mr. Jonghun Tae, the President of the Korea Nuclear Association (KNA), and Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, the Executive Director of ACE. In his opening remarks, Mr. Jonghun expressed KNA’s eagerness to expand its operations to ASEAN and recognized ACE as the perfect partner for this undertaking. Meanwhile, Dr. Nuki reiterated the importance of enhancing partnership, noting the projected ASEAN’s energy demand would grow 3-4 times by 2050, according to the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook, and welcomed KNA and Korean Government’s timely assistance.

Figure 1. Dr. Nuki Agya Utama (left side, second position) and Mr. Jonghun Tae (right side, second position)

Photo credit: ACE

Both sides acknowledged the challenges of achieving sustainable energy development and energy security and agreed that there are no single pathways to meet ASEAN energy needs. Hence, they recognised the importance of nuclear energy to enable the efforts towards achieving sustainable future.

Figure 2. The signing of the MoU between ACE and KNA

Photo credit: ACE

In conclusion, the signing of MoU between ACE and KNA is a significant milestone in fostering a strategic partnership in nuclear energy utilization between the two sides. It is a signal to their commitment to a sustainable energy future for ASEAN and their recognition of the importance of collaboration and partnership in achieving this goal.

Figure 3. The attendants of the ACE and KNA MoU signing ceremony

Photo credit: ACE