“We are looking forward to more international conferences in the future especially with the New Panglao-Bohol Airport opening by next year,” he said at a media briefing after hosting this year’s Asian Conference Dialogue (ACD), with the Department of Energy (DoE) as lead agency.
Policy makers, ministers and experts in the energy sector gathered in Bohol for a four-day conference held at the Be Grand Resort on Panglao Island on August 7-10, to share some of the best practices in the region on energy security, resiliency, and sustainability amid threats posed by climate change.
At the end of the conference, Chatto disclosed that he was approached by some of the foreign delegates who expressed interest in coming back to Bohol to organize an international conference or convention.
“The Energy Minister of Brunei plans to invite to Bohol their prime minister and 11 Cabinet members for governance meetings as he finds the province an ideal place to relax and commune with nature,” he told the local media here.
The well-attended ACD was so far the biggest event hosted by the province since the trade meetings among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in April this year, also on Panglao Island.
ACD was formed in Thailand 15 years ago with the Philippines as one of the 18 pioneer member states.
Today ACD has grown into a 34-nation group, with member states that include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkey and Nepal.
According to the group’s primer, ACD envisions to “consolidate the strengths of Asian nations and promote interdependence among member states in all aspects of cooperation, one of which is sustainable energy.”
Source: The Manila Times | 13 August 2017
