At the side-line of the Special Senior Officials Meeting on Energy and Associated Meetings: Special SOME, 21-21 January 2020 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the representatives from all ASEAN Member States as well as the representatives from ASEAN Sub-sector Networks (SSN) and Specialized Energy Bodies (SEB) attended the 4^th APAEC Drafting Committee (ADC) Meeting.

The 32^nd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) held on 23 September 2014 in Vientiane, Lao PDR, endorsed the theme of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025 as “Enhancing Energy Connectivity and Market Integration in ASEAN to Achieve Energy Security, Accessibility, Affordability and Sustainability for All”. The key strategies of the seven Program Areas of the APAEC 2016-2025 Phase I: 2016-2020 are illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1. The key strategies of the seven Program Areas of the APAEC 2016-2025 Phase I: 2016-2020

The APAEC is the regional blueprint on energy cooperation in ASEAN. Moving forward to APAEC Phase 2: 2021-2025 the key strategies and action plans are expected to be endorsed at the 38^th AMEM in September 2020 under the Chairmanship of Vietnam.

In this meeting, the Chairman has reiterated that ASEAN is moving towards energy transition and decarbonization in his opening remarks. Therefore, the focus of this meeting is to discuss the sub-theme and the new key strategies that will better shape the policy direction of this region.

Apart from actively participated in ADC, SSNs and SEBs meetings, in preparation for APAEC Phase 2, ACCEPT has been working closely with the leaders of APAEC. Recognizing the importance of strengthening the regional response to the global development agendas such as the energy-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, ACCEPT has therefore consulted with the leaders about how it can be further developed in the next phase of APAEC.

The findings from the interviews have been compiled into a policy brief, “Energy Decision-Makers’ Perspectives on APAEC: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward”, which will be shared with the AMS by Q1 2020.