Kuala Lumpur, 26 June 2023 – The inaugural Energy Asia 2023 was officiated today by The Right Honourable Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Jointly organised by PETRONAS and CERAWeek (by S&P Global) as its knowledge partner, the three-day conference and exhibition gathers the world’s leading industry experts, business leaders, investors, and policymakers, to facilitate the discourse towards accelerating Asia’s pathway to a lower-carbon future, and unlocking low carbon pathways and unleash new potentials for the region’s energy sector.

Energy Asia aims to drive actionable solutions that will enable Asia to pursue economic growth and foster equitable social progress with a decarbonisation imperative. More than 100 renowned speakers from across 27 industries will share their insights in various plenary and dialogue sessions throughout the three-day conference anchored around the theme “Charting Pathways for a Sustainable Asia.”

In his Keynote Address, the Prime Minister hoped to see Energy Asia grow into a multi-year effort that would drive and materialise the continuous efforts for systemic change towards sustainability, not just for the region but right across the universe.

“This conference will be the place where this vast pool of knowledge convenes to form practical solutions and concrete projects for an effective and inclusive transition to net zero and a more sustainable Asia,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the government is further developing several strategic roadmaps, namely the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the Hydrogen Economy & Technology Roadmap that will be launched by the second half of the year.

PETRONAS President and Group CEO and Chairman of Energy Asia, Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik said PETRONAS has convened Energy Asia to address the complexity of energy transition for the region that will require pragmatic and practical solutions.

“Energy transition is a journey of change that cannot be achieved overnight and more must be done to bring forth all the solutions that we have available to us.

“We acknowledge that meaningful collaborations from all stakeholders are required to steer us in the right direction. Therefore, Energy Asia is determined to ensure no industry, sector or community is excluded from the conversation as we are all part of a system responsible to deliver energy that is affordable, accessible, secure, and most importantly, sustainable,” he said in his Welcoming Address.

Dr. Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global and CERAWeek conference chair, said in his remarks, “The road to net zero will have to travel via Global South and the fast-growing economies in Asia. Moving from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ of energy transition is an important and complex endeavour. Although each country will determine its own priorities and pathways, regional cooperation among ASEAN countries is critically important. CERAWeek is pleased to be a knowledge partner for Energy Asia 2023 and to advance these dialogues that are so important to the region and the world”.

Energy Asia saw over 3,000 delegates from around the world on Day 1 of the conference which was officiated by the Prime Minister.

The conference, which is being held from 26 to 28 June 2023, featured more than 50 renowned speakers on the first day, including HE Arifin Tasrif, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia; HE Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) Singapore; HE Haitham Al-Ghais, Secretary General OPEC; Dr. Naoko Ishii, Professor and Executive Vice President, University of Tokyo; Amin H Nasser, Chief Executive Officer and President, Aramco; Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer TotalEnergies.

Other esteemed names set to make an appearance as part of the speaker line-up include Nicke Widyawati, President Director and CEO, PERTAMINA; and Toto Wolff, Team Principal and Chief Executive Officer, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.

In addition to the conference and Innovation Agora, there will be a showcase on the latest technology and solutions in the Energy Park.
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