[Wednesday, 2 November 2022]
It was an honour to present the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) to the academes from Universitas Bakrie in Jakarta. After two rescheduled meetings, we finally had the opportunity to meet them today. The meeting was held in the Nusantara Room, located on the 40th floor of Bakrie Tower, near the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) office. ACE representatives include Andy Tirta, Amira Bilqis, and me. On their side, several academes attended, including Mr. Tri Andika Kurniawan (as Vice Chancellor II); Prof. Rusadi Kantaprawira, Dr. Aditya Batara Gunawan, Dr. Astrid Meilasari Sugiana, and Dr. Muh. Badaruddin from Political Science; Dr Arief Bimantoro Suharko and Dr Jerry Heikal from Master of Management; and Dr Aqil Azizi from Environment Engineering.
Highlights
These are my key takeaways from the discussion:
- Geopolitical issues consistently emerged as a central theme during the discussion. Among all the topics presented, the ASEAN electricity grid interconnection plan stood out as the most compelling. It sparked many questions on cross-border power trade, regional cooperation, and political feasibility. This reflects a strong interest in the technical design of infrastructure and how ASEAN can navigate geopolitical dynamics to make regional energy integration a reality.
- Outlook studies should include risk profiling and risk management. For instance, what happens with our energy security if there were a typhoon or other natural disasters?
- We need to equip ourselves (myself especially) with the current trend of energy issues in each ASEAN Member State, especially the country where we give the presentation. The audience can relate more to their national topic, making the discussion smoother.
Today’s exchange about the energy outlook at Universitas Bakrie reaffirmed the importance of collaboration with academia. I look forward to more dialogues that turn insights into action for ASEAN’s energy future.