DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Some 200 policy makers, academia, development partners, and private sector representatives from ASEAN and East Asia region gathered here on Tuesday to discuss and share experiences on potential developments in energy efficiency in the East Asia Summit region, officials said.

Addressing the 2nd East Asia Summit Energy Efficiency Conference, Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, executive director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), said the conference would provide an overview of the development of energy efficient products and best practice in improving energy efficiency.

It would also be a forum to understand about energy challenges and responses as well as the potentials of energy conservation and the need for tackling climate change, he said.

"Importantly, these discussions also provide input to policy consideration at the highest level," he said, adding that the outcome of the conference will be reported to the 6th East Asia Summit Energy Ministers Meeting, to be held in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia in September.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Suy Sem, Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, said that energy development is the most important priority for a country as it is the key for economic development in all domains.

"However, the energy development with efficiency and minimized impact on environment is the heart of energy," he said, encouraging participating experts to think about clean and renewable sources of energy in order to reduce climate change.

The two-day forum was hosted by Cambodia's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, with co-organizers, the ERIA and the ASEAN Center for Energy.

The 1st East Asia Summit Energy Efficiency Conference was held in Laos in last August.