Dialogue Meeting with Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy on January 20, 2016

On 20 January 2016, EABC led by the Energy and Energy Efficiency Working Group and the Automotive Working Group arranged a dialogue meeting with Mr. Chavalit Pichalai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy to discuss on key energy policy issues in Thailand.

The discussion was aimed at sharing and exchanging views on Thailand’s affordable energy supplies and energy sector development based on experiences of European businesses.

To address key concerns, current licenses for major oil and gas fields due to expire in 2022-2023 were encouraged to be renewed with open negotiations with various partners. Clarity should be made by the Government shortly to ensure continued investments from private companies. On the issue of Overlapping Claims Area (OCA) between Thailand and Cambodia, the Thai Government ensured improvement in bilateral negotiation following the official visit of the Cambodian Prime Minister to Thailand in December 2015. On this occasion, EABC congratulated on Thailand’s recent membership of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – global standard promoting open and accountable management of natural resource – to which EABC is ready to offer support in term of best practices.