Malaysia Hands Over IGU Presidency & 26th World Gas Conference to France

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia on Wednesday handed over the presidency of the International Gas Union (IGU) for 2012-2015 and 26th World Gas Conference (WGC) to France. Outgoing IGU president, Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim, said the conference, which united gas experts and opinion leaders from around the world, played host to an impressive number of participants within the gas industry. "We are delighted to hand over to France what the IGU believes to have been a very successful event this year," he said at the ceremony. Since 1931, the IGU has been organising WGC every three years and at the end of each IGU presidency triennium, the host country is accorded the privilege to host the WGC. The 25th WGC, held here from June 4-8, 2012 and hosted by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), was established with the theme "Sustaining Future Global Growth". Incoming IGU president, Jerome Ferrier, said the 26th WGC would be held in Paris from June 1-5, 2015 while the theme for the new triennial work programme would be "Growing Together Towards a Friendly Planet". "We are honoured to be taking over and we must continue to address the world's challenges such as increasing global energy demand by educating the energy industry on the benefits of natural gas and its imperative role in our energy future," he said. -- BERNAMA