Huiming Gong, Program Officer, The China Sustainable Energy Program, speaks at the meeting
As part of its Global Fuel Economy work in partnership with IEA, UNEP and ITF, and following on from the Paris symposium the FIA Foundation sponsored a pre-meeting at the BAQ symposium (BAQ2008.org) in Bangkok this week. The theme of the meeting was the global fuel economy policy framework, and next steps in Asia.
Asia has seen an upward surge in urbanization with rapid economic growth in the last decade. This has resulted in a rapid increase in the demand for personal mobility and the number of motorized 2-3 wheelers and cars. So far, in developing Asia, only China has developed and implemented fuel economy standards, although India is not far behind. However, the ASEAN vehicle fleet will continue to be larger than that of India and in the next 10 years remain almost equal to the size of China’s vehicle fleet, if predicted growth patterns actually emerge.
During the workshop – which was attended by over 60 key policymakers and stakeholders from the region – there were presentations from China, India, US and Europe, as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. By presenting and reviewing experience of such a wide range of different countries, especially China and India, in the formulation and implementation of fuel economy measures, the seminar was able to provide ASEAN representatives with an opportunity to share their concerns and priorities, and experience.
Whilst no formal outcome was planned for this networking event, a series of key next steps were discussed including:
- A workshop report, to be drawn up and circulated to attendees
- An informal regional network based on broad agreement over the significance of the issue, and the need to keep in touch
- Better shared understanding of the key success criteria, with a commitment to exchange ideas and best practice
- Further Analysis, with the aim of improved understanding of regional and national fleet characteristics, intra and inter-regional vehicle flows
- A possible ASEAN initiative in 2009, as part of the priority being given to transport issues by that organization.
Sheila Watson, the Foundation’s Director of Environment who attended and spoke at the event said:
‘This was such an exciting opportunity to engage with experts and stakeholders from a key region, to share their experience, and to look for shared solutions. The discussion in our workshop was lively and engaging, and we have made many useful contacts across South East Asia on which we can draw in our future work.’