ASEAN starts talking energy

PHNOM PENH (VNS)— The 30th ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Energy got underway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia yesterday.

Viet Nam's Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Le Duong Quang led a delegation to the event.

The meeting, themed "ASEAN Green Connectivity", aims to boost cooperation in the energy sector amongst the bloc's members and promote the efficient use of energy, green energy and an ASEAN international power grid.

Opening the event, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the meeting will enhance solidarity and unity amongst ASEAN member states and prompt them to work together to achieve the bloc's goal.

This will also contribute to the efforts being put in to realise an ASEAN Community by 2015, he added.

Hun Sen also stated that energy security is still one of ASEAN's major challenges and called on ASEAN energy ministers to focus on developing renewable energies. These include hydropower, wind power, solar energy, bio-mass and bio-gas energies as well as bio-fuels.

According to Hun Sen, nuclear power is also a huge potential source of energy, however it needs to be evaluated in depth, with the advantages and risks both taken into account.

Cambodia's Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Suy Sem said that in addition to the 30th ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Energy, there will be an additional meeting between ASEAN energy ministers and the International Energy Agency.

The ninth meeting of ASEAN Energy Ministers Plus Three (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), the sixth East Asian Energy Ministers Summit, the ASEAN Energy Business Forum and the ASEAN-US Business Council Dialogue will conclude today.—VNA