Infrastructure Regulators Gather from the East Asia and Pacific Region to Discuss Accountability in Infrastructure Regulation in EAPIRF’s Third Annual Meeting. EAPIRF Elects First Executive Committee

Infrastructure regulators from the energy, water and sanitation, telecommunications, and transportation sectors convened in Singapore on October 6-7, 2005 for the third annual meeting of the East Asia and Pacific Infrastructure Regulatory Forum (EAPIRF). Participants included 70 regulators and other officials from 20 countries. The third annual meeting was part of the 2005 EAPIRF annual activities, and was supported by the World Bank, the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), and the Government of Singapore. Past meetings were held in Manila (2004) and in Bangkok (2003) where regulators had first agreed to form the Forum.

The Singapore meeting had two objectives. The first day of the meeting was devoted to discussing “Accountability in Infrastructure Regulation” while the second day of the meeting was focused on formalizing EAPIRF including electing the first Executive Committee and discussing the Medium-Term Strategic Plan.

The meeting was opened with welcome addresses from Dr. Ty Norin, Chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia and member of the EAPIRF Guiding Committee; Mr. Khoo Chin Hean, Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore; and Mr. Christian Delvoie, Director, East Asia and Pacific Infrastructure Unit of the World Bank.

Effective regulators are an important way to hold public and private infrastructure developers and operators accountable for the services provided to consumers, but regulators too must be held accountable. Keynote speaker, Mr. Roy Hemmingway, Chair of the Electricity Commission of New Zealand and former Chair of the Oregon Public Utility Commission in the United States discussed the different forms of accountability including legal, political and public accountability drawing on examples from New Zealand and the United States. Professor S L Rao, former Chair of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in India, discussed the experience of developing regulatory accountability mechanisms in India. Panel respondents from different stakeholder groups reacted to the keynote presentation, and participants discussed important mechanisms for regulatory accountability such as appeals processes, stakeholder consultation, reporting, and transparent decision making procedures.

On the second day of the meeting, participants were presented with the results of the training needs assessment conducted among EAP regulators by the EAPIRF Interim Secretariat. Commenting on the results of the assessment, regulators acknowledged the significant unmet demand for regulatory training in the region and the key role that a regional forum such as EAPIRF could play to help regulators meet their training needs. The meeting concluded with the election of the first EAPIRF Executive Committee. The Chair elect, Mr. Thomas Abe said “The Executive Committee is keen to take on the challenges that lay ahead in terms of setting the foundations that will eventually make EAPIRF self sustainable in the future and will do everything it can to ensure that members realize material and mutual benefits out of the activities of the EAPIRF going forward”. In his closing remarks, Mr. Christian Delvoie of the World Bank noted the enthusiasm and commitment of EAPIRF leadership, and emphasized the importance of fora such as EAPIRF in promoting good regulatory practices in infrastructure in the region.

Future Forum activities will be supported by the World Bank, PPIAF, and the Government for Australia. More information about EAPIRF is available on the EAPIRF website www.eapirf.org.