Japan Willing To Share Expertise In Energy Sector With ASEAN

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Japan is willing to share its experience, knowledge and technology expertise in the energy sector with ASEAN, said the country's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy director Katsushi Takehiro. "With the the drop in oil and gas prices currently, we expect huge demand for energy. "Therefore, we need to adopt more efficient use of energy to avoid shortages," he said after attending the Senior Officials Meeting on Energy Plus Three along with China and South Korea (SOME+3), in conjunction with the 33rd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM 2015) here Tuesday. The AMEM 2015 is a platform to foster greater cooperation on energy among ASEAN, its dialogue partners and international energy agencies. The meetings will be attended by delegates from the 10 ASEAN member states, ASEAN dialogue partners and relevant parties. Meanwhile, Takehiro urged all ASEAN member states to strengthen their energy security policies and promote renewable energy. "There are many Japanese companies established in ASEAN countries, and a strong energy security policy is crucial to ensure energy resources are enough to support the companies' operations," he said. On the implementation of the ASEAN Power Grid (APG), he said more cooperation is needed among the member states to ensure the vision of the programme is achieved. APG is a programme under the ASEAN Vision 2020, mandated by Asean governments to ensure regional energy security and efficient sharing of resources. Takehiro said Japan had also participated in the Heads of ASEAN Power Utilities and Authorities (HAPUA) meeting to further discuss how the country could contribute in the APG implementation. --BERNAMA