Philip participated in a brainstorming session of the ASEAN Energy Market Integration (AEMI) Group held in Bangkok, 13-15th May 2014.

The aim of this meeting was to launch the second phase of the AEMI initiative (AEMI II) which follows on from the first phase of work (AEMI I) carried out in 2013.

The AEMI Group is a network of ASEAN economists and engineers, creating a neutral platform to develop the case for AEMI as a way to support the provision of affordable, secure and sustainable energy for all people within the AEC. Members of the AEMI Group work together to provide the academic support to develop the AEMI vision and deliver it, and stand ready to support the work for drafting the next APAEC.  The value proposition is based on the national expertise within the Group, the commitment of its members, and their first hand understanding of the issues at stake.

As part of the AEMI I, a forum (The AEMI Forum) was convened on August 27-28, 2013 on behalf of the ASEAN Secretariat, ACE, the AEMI Group and Chulalongkorn University (ASEAN Studies Center, Faculty of Economics and Energy Research Institute).  The objective of the Forum was to engage a dialogue between ASEAN policymakers (Track I) and academics (Track II) on the AEMI concept and the way to develop it further.  Its participants included representatives from academic institutions, research centres, and regional decision making entities from across ASEAN. The proceedings from the Forum, as well as the seven AEMI papers were published in a book by the AEMI Group “AEMI: From coordination to integration”.

The current phase of work, AEMI II, will focus on producing a new series of AEMI Papers to support the development of the AEMI Blueprint and Roadmap.  The core objective is to make a contribution to the development of the drafting of the new APAEC (2016-2019), which central theme is now set to be “Connectivity and Market Integration”.

The objectives of the AEMI Brainstorming Session May 14-15 were to:

• Determine the broad components of the AEMI Blueprint and Roadmap,
• Identify the analytical issues that would need to be addressed in order to determine all the specific   elements of the AEMI Blueprint and Roadmap;
• Agree on a new set of AEMI Papers that would support the drafting of the AEMI Blueprint and Roadmap.

The papers will be ready to be presented and discussed at the next AEMI Forum to be held in December 2014.