The 21^st Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Energy Efficiency and Conservation Sub-sector Network (EE&C-SSN) was held in Manila, the Philippines on 4-5 May 2017. Hosted by the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE), the Meeting was organised in conjunction with the EE&C Evaluation Meetings of the Board of Judges for the ASEAN Energy Awards (AEA) 2017 on 2-3 May 2017, and ASEAN-German Energy Programme (AGEP) Consultation Meeting on 4 May 2017.

The Meeting was attended by delegates from 5 (five) ASEAN Member States (AMS); Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. The representatives of Clean Air Asia, Cowater International Inc, the Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) presented updates of their cooperation with AMS and ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE). As a rule, representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) were also in attendance.

The Annual Meeting reviewed last year’s activities of EE&C-SSN Meeting and the outcomes/directives of the Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (SOME) and ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in the area of EE&C. The accomplishments of various programmes were considered and acknowledged such as the ASEAN-Germany Energy Programme, ASEAN-Japan Energy Efficiency Partnership (AJEEP), Energy Conservation Workshop under AJEEP, Energy Management Action Network by ECCJ under the framework of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) technical standards harmonisation for air-conditioners and lighting, and AEA for the EE&C categories.

The EE&C-SSN Focal Points acknowledged the updates and considered the proposals from Dialogue Partners and International Organisations (DPs/IOs) to further strengthen energy cooperation among AMS. The new proposals include the Canada-ASEAN Green Energy for Poverty Reduction, China-ASEAN Regional Cooperation on Energy Efficiency Enhancement of End-use Products (CARCEEP), and feasibility study on the potential of increased energy efficiency in the transport sector, with Clean Air Asia and GIZ Thailand.  The outcomes of the productive Meetings will be reported to the SOME and AMEM for their approval. (AJ.  Featured photo credit:  the Philippine NOC)