Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople announced on 22 June 2003 at the 2nd Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the proposal of the Philippines to be a prime mover on energy cooperation under the framework of the ACD.  “The vulnerability of energy commodities to socio-political disturbances necessitates ACD member countries to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector.”

The Philippine proposal complements those of Bahrain and Indonesia which are co-prime movers on energy security. Unlike Bahrain and Indonesia, however, the Philippines is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Nevertheless, the Philippines sees its leadership in energy development in terms of its supply of and expertise in renewable sources of energy. Secretary Ople cited the country’s being the second largest producer of geothermal energy -- next only to the United States, saying “…we may even surpass the U.S. in the next 10 years.”.  He added that the Philippines is expected to house the largest wind farm in the region by 2005 and has gradually lessened its dependence on imported oil, from 21% in 2001 to 15% in 2002, as a result of the operations of the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project.

The ACD groups together the ten ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Qatar, and Bahrain. It is a top-down, evolving, and open process where high-level policy-makers can informally exchange ideas and experiences to create Asia-wide strategic linkages and enhance confidence among participating countries. The ACD is meant to fill the missing link in region-wide cooperation.

There are two dimensions in ACD: the dialogue dimension and the project dimension.  Member countries have come forward to become "prime movers" in areas of cooperation that best match their expertise and interests.