The ASEAN Energy Center (ACE), supported by the USAID Southeast Asia Smart Power Program (SPP), successfully hosted the 2nd Inter-Regional Energy Forum (IREF) as a part of the ASEAN Energy Business Forum 2024 (AEBF-24), held along with the 42 .ASEAN Energy Ministers Meeting (AMEM).
Building on the success of the inaugural IREF meeting held in Bali during AEBF 2023, the second IREF meeting highlights ACE’s commitment to strengthening interregional partnerships and advancing the worldwide energy transition. This forum supports interregional cooperation through joint projects, policy dialogues and the exchange of best practices.
With the theme “Balance the Regional Energy Trilemma to Support Socio-Economic Development and Net Zero Targets,” this 12 months’s forum brought together 4 major energy organizations from Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
IREF serves as a platform to strengthen interregional cooperation in addressing global energy transition challenges. Through the exchange of data and techniques, the forum highlights the importance of secure, inexpensive and sustainable energy to support socio-economic development.
Grayson Heffner, Director of Utilities Modernization and Energy Trade at USAID SPP, expressed pride in SPP’s role in supporting Southeast Asia’s economic growth and development through a secure, market-based energy sector. He also highlighted SPP’s enthusiasm for participating within the IREF initiative, stating: “We are pleased to take part in the IREF initiative, which enables dialogue amongst regional energy actors on key challenges and solutions for multilateral energy cooperation and energy resilience within the region and around the globe.”
The forum lasted two days. The first day included a closed roundtable discussion between ACE, the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), the African Energy Commission (AFREC) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Energy Center (SAARC EC), which coincided with the forty second, specializing in best practices aimed toward aimed toward strengthening regional energy connections.
The second session, organized as a public panel during AEBF-24, brought together energy experts to present the most recent strategies and insights to advance energy security, availability, affordability and sustainability through a comprehensive dialogue.
