Setting the record straight

This is regarding Dr. Laurence Delina’s commentary, “The case for an Asean Energy Union” (11/14/17).

Asean’s energy sector is well-established through the Asean Centre for Energy (ACE) in 1999. Its vision: “The Centre as catalyst for the economic growth and integration of the Asean region by initiating and facilitating multilateral collaborations as well as joint and collective activities on energy.” The mission: “ACE shall accelerate the integration of energy strategies within Asean by providing relevant information and expertise to ensure the necessary energy policies and programmes are in harmony with the economic growth and the environmental sustainability of the region.”

The 35th Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting (Amem), and Asean Energy Business Forum (AEBF) were held in the Philippines in September 2017. The first-ever in regional electricity was the signing of the Energy Purchase and Wheeling Agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Laos. Soon, a natural gas platform is seen among Indonesia and member-countries. In 18 years, Amem and AEBF have expanded into the Asean Plus Three of China, Japan and South Korea. Moreover, Asean countries, through ACE, have fostered coherent relationships with global energy organizations like the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, International Energy Agency, and International Renewable Energy Agency. As early as 2003, Asean was an observer organization in the Brussels-based Energy Charter Conference.

Maybe this letter will be helpful to Dr. Delina in exploring the region’s vast energy field.

ANTONIO A. VER, President and CEO, H&WB Asia Pacific (Pte Ltd) Corp.

Global Strategist Dr. Parag Khanna Presents Copy of Latest Book to Phl Ambassador to Singapore

Book Singapore PE Global Civ 1

18 July 2017 SINGAPORE — Leading global strategist and best-selling author Dr. Parag Khanna visited the Philippine Embassy in Singapore on Monday, July 10 where he presented to Ambassador Antonio A. Morales a copy of his book “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization”. Dr. Khanna is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is also the Managing Partner of Hybrid Reality and Co-Founder & CEO of Factotum, a leading content branding agency. Also in photo are Atty. Angelo Jimenez, Member of the UP Board of Regents, and Mr. Antonio Ver, CEO of H&WB Asia Corp.

Regent Jimenez is President, and Mr. Ver is Founder, respectively, of Asia Pacific Basin.

CLICK HERE for the actual press release from the Official Website of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

 

 

Trustees, Officers for 2016-2017

With the recent announcement naming APBest Chairman Benjamin E. Diokno, PhD, as Secretary of Budget and Management under the new government of the Philippines, APBest’s Board of Trustees resolved on June 2, 2016 that Dr. Diokno be Chairman Emeritus. He was former Chairman and President of the Philippine National Oil Company in late President Corazon Aquino’s term, and was also Secretary of Budget and Management during the presidency of Joseph Estrada. Read more

Rural Access to Energy Services

Rural access to energy services is still considered a problem among impoverished rural communities which serves as a barrier to sustainable development everywhere. At the Global Conference on Rural Energy Access held on December 4-6, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a number of commitments were made by UNDP, WHO, the United Alliance for Rural Electrification and several other stakeholders with the aim of bringing modern and reliable energy services to rural communities. The conference organized by UN DESA in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), UN-Energy and the Economic Commission for Africa revolve around the central theme of the important role of access to energy services to enable sustainable development and eradicate poverty.

Participants from over 40 countries agreed that the lack of clean, affordable and reliable energy is at the heart of interconnected energy problems in energy poor areas. The discussions and recommendations centered around solutions and technologies aimed to bring energy to help improve the life of these rural communities. For a list of the complete discussion and recommendations, please visit the UN DESA Conference webpage.

For the complete text on please see the full article on Improving Sustainable Energy Access for Rural Areas at the Feature Section of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) website.

End of OPEC

End of OPEC

Are we seeing the end of OPEC? It has been forty years since the Arab oil embargo took effect in 1973. This point in history triggered a period of change and turmoil.

After the United States provided support to Israel during the Yom Kippur War, a cartel of developing-world countries through the OPEC or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries banned the sale of their oil to Israel’s allies and thereby set in motion geopolitical circumstances that eventually allowed them to wrest control over global oil production and pricing from the giant international oil companies — ushering in an era of significantly higher oil prices. The event was hailed at the time as the first major victory of “Third World” powers to bring the West to its knees. Designed in part to bring Arab populations their due after decades of colonialism, the embargo opened the floodgates for an unprecedented transfer of wealth out of America and Europe to the Middle East. Overnight, the largest segment of the global economy, the oil market, became politicized as never before in history.

To read the full article by Amy Myers Jaffe and Ed Morse, please visit the Foreign Policy webpage. To view the video of the interview of Shari Spiegel, Financing Development, please click this

end-of-opec
Photo from the Robert Yarnall Richie Photograph Collection, Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library
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