Kuching, 16–18 June 2025: ERIA participated in the 43rd ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Energy (SOME) and its associated meetings, held in Kuching, Malaysia. The event gathered ASEAN Member States (AMS), dialogue partners, and regional organisations to discuss key priorities and cooperation areas in advancing a secure, sustainable, and integrated energy future for the region.

At the 30th East Asia Summit Energy Cooperation Task Force (EAS ECTF), ERIA contributed substantively across several agenda items. Dr Nuki Agya Utama, Head of the Asia Zero Emission Center, presented the forthcoming EAS Energy Outlook 2025 and highlighted ongoing work under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) workstream. This included updates on industrial decarbonisation efforts such as the deployment of heat pumps, once-through boilers, and clean steel production technologies.

ERIA also shared progress on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus study under the Biofuels for Transport and Other Purposes (BTOP) workstream. The Philippines, as the requesting country, expressed appreciation for ERIA’s continued support in this area. ERIA also presented a broader overview of its policy work as the Asia Zero Emission Center, encompassing power, mobility, and industrial transitions, as well as cross-sectoral initiatives including hydrogen, ammonia, Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), critical minerals, and carbon market development.

Viet Nam, in its role as EAS lead country, acknowledged and welcomed ERIA’s contribution to regional policymaking. The ASEAN Secretariat further encouraged ERIA to consider additional areas of mobility decarbonisation, such as multi-fuel vehicles and low-carbon diesel.

On the sidelines of the meeting, ERIA also held bilateral consultations with several AMS. Through its active participation and country-level engagement, ERIA reaffirmed its commitment to supporting ASEAN’s energy priorities and facilitating collaborative approaches to a low-carbon energy transition.