With support from the People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China (P. R. China), the event sought to increase collaboration across the Lancang-Mekong (LM) region on power sector connectivity, green and low-carbon energy development, and related issues.

A total of 47 key stakeholders from LM countries convened, including government officials, particularly those working in the cross-border power connectivity or low- carbon industrial park development, development practitioners, and representatives for research institutes.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Narongchai Akrasanee, Chairman of the MI Steering Committee, provided a brief history of electricity production by explaining that in the 1970s/1980s, fossil fuel was the main source of electricity production as it was widely available at that time. Then, humans relied on coal being the cheapest source. However, at the present, more people have become concerned with the environment so clean energy was demanded, either to be produced from solar, wind, or hydro. “To address the imbalances of demand and supply of power and to assure continuous availability for areas or countries with various sources of power production, the idea of connectivity is therefore proposed. This is a solution for the optimization of power production and consumption for the Lancang-Mekong countries which have many common borders.”

Speaking during the Closing Program, Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, MI’s Executive Director, highlighted the importance of today’s report launch and discussion which demonstrates LM countries’ commitments towards low-carbon pathway. The comprehensive study provides overview of ongoing development, challenges and proposed agenda for future cooperation. To create scalable adoption and sector-wide transition, he encouraged the sharing of best practices and experiences related to green and low/zero carbon from the energy industry. In addition to national policies and regional cooperation action plan, he stressed collaboration with the public-private partnership as another key driver.

The event was organized as part of the projects on “Promoting Greater Energy Connectivity for Equitable Development and Growth in the Lancang-Mekong Region.” and “Capability Enhancement on Low/Zero-Carbon Industrial Park Energy System in Lancang-Mekong Countries” which are being jointly implemented by CSG, MI, CERS and EDRI/LMERC. with the aim of leveraging the synergies among the various cooperation frameworks, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), and the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which recognize the importance of power connectivity and industrial park green development.