The Executive Director of the ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE), Dr. Sanjayan Velautham, visited ERIA and met with the Executive Director of ERIA, Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, and ERIA's energy economists, on 23 February 2015.

Prof. Nishimura explained the history of ERIA since its establishment in 2007 and highlighted its wide reaching activities that have been conducted so far. Further, he cited ERIA's major mandate from 5th EAS Energy Ministers Meeting in Brunei Darussalam in 2011 and ERIA's annual commitment to the EAS Energy Ministers Meeting.

He also explained ERIA's energy related research activities, such as the establishment of an Energy Unit in 2012 and the Energy Research Institute Network (ERIN) in 2014 to strengthen cooperation in the Asian energy sector.

Dr. Velautham expressed his appreciation for ERIA's contribution of the inputs and policy recommendations to enhance ASEAN and EAS energy cooperation, which has brought tangible benefits to the region and beyond.

Both sides emphasized the importance of having deeper cooperation between ACE and ERIA on relevant energy issues in the region.