The ASEAN Member States (AMS) are expecting to have more entries in 2019 for the ASEAN Coal Awards, said Dr. Kieu Kim Truc, the ASEAN Forum on Coal (AFOC) Chairman, during the 8^th Board of Judges Meeting for the ASEAN Coal Awards.

The Board of Judges (BoJ) for ASEAN Coal Awards convened at Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR, during the 16th AFOC Council Meeting between 15 and 18 May 2018.  The objective of the BoJ meeting during the Council Meeting week is to revisit the ASEAN Coal Awards guidelines in order to prominently feature best practices and to attract more number of entries from the AMS.

“The ASEAN Coal Awards is a good platform to emphasise and encourage AMS to utilise coal in an environmentally responsible manner,” said Dr. Rita Susilawati, representative from Indonesia, ASEAN’s biggest coal producer.

The judges have openly and thoroughly discussed the improvement of the guidelines ensuring that the best practices will further achieve the goals of the award.  The judges agreed to meet again in Malaysia for the evaluation of entries that will be endorsed by the AMS through ACE.

In 2017, there were 21 entries from AMS and 17 winners that were recognised for their outstanding and innovative efforts towards cleaner utilisation of coal.  The awards were presented during the Gala Dinner of the 35^th ASEAN Ministers of Energy Meeting held in September 2017 (Manila, the Philippines).  The ASEAN Coal Awards is organised every two (2) years jointly by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and AFOC. (RAP.  Featured photo credit:  MEM, Lao PDR)