The EAPIRF Annual Event, 2009 was held at Hanoi, Vietnam during 18-27 November 2009. It was attended by about 60 participants from different countries such as Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mongolia, PNG, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam representing different infrastructure sectors such as power and water; including officials from the World Bank and the Secretariat.

The event started with administrative meetings (ExCom and AGM) which discussed the progress of the Forum for the year and the options to make the Forum vibrant and viable. In the wake of global financial crisis, the various challenges faced in the development of infrastructure in the region were highlighted. There were also speakers representing the institutions which support the Forum, viz., The World Bank, AusAid and PPIAF. They highlighted the roles of these institutions in helping in the development of the Forum and in the overall development of infrastructure in the region.

One of the critical objectives of the Forum is to enhance knowledge amongst its members through various capacity building initiatives. A diverse range of workshops and training sessions, which were organized for the members, are described below.

Knowledge Sharing Workshop (KSW)
Various topics of pertinent member interest were presented and discussed during the KSW. Many experiences were shared and learnings discussed. These included impact of global economic meltdown on infrastructure investments and utilities in the East Asia and Pacific region, lessons learnt from South East Asian crisis and strategies deployed by regulators in changing market conditions. Speakers also touched upon the issue of regulating public entities and shared their experiences of the same.

Specialized Training Program (STP)
The specialized training program focused upon the need to promote renewable energy projects in Pacific Island countries. Different regulatory options that could be explored in promoting renewables and project evaluation parameters were discussed. Experiences of Philippines were shared in promoting renewables through different policy instruments such as feed-in-tariffs, renewable purchase obligation, green certificates. Thailand’s experience in accelerating rural electrification was also highlighted.

Core Training Program (CTP)
The Core Training Program was conducted over a period of five days covering a whole range of topics pertinent to independent regulation of infrastructure sectors. The list of topics covered during the course is as follows:

• Introduction to regulatory developments in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries
• Introduction to Economic Principles
• Economic rationale for regulation and regulatory objectives
• Procedures for Resetting Tariff Levels
• Basic concepts of finance: understanding key financial statements
• Rate of Return Regulation versus Incentive Regulation
• Review of various demand forecasting techniques and their usage in economic regulation
• Review of operational expenditure
• Regulatory Treatment of Investments / Capital Expenditure
• Alternative valuation methodologies: market value, replacement value, historic values
• Standard asset lives and Regulatory Depreciation
• Cost of Capital and main sources of risk: cost of debt, cost of equity and gearing
• Discounted Cash Flow methods for revenue requirement determination using building blocks. NPV versus Recoverable Amounts Test
• Financial Ratio Analysis
• Tariff Structures and Tariff Adjustments
• Service quality measures, setting Key Performance Indicators, Incentives for quality of service

A mix of lectures, group exercises, case studies and role-plays were used to train the participants in the foregoing aspects of economics, finance and independent regulation while discussing the East Asia and Pacific experience in the relevant context. In particular, the course was designed in a fashion that the theoretical concepts discussed during the day culminated in a case study that provided opportunity for application of those concepts by the participants.

Advanced Training Program (ATP)
The Advanced Training Program was conducted over a period of two days and attempted to train the participants in tariff setting of infrastructure services through a detailed case study. It covered all the stages of regulatory ratemaking –

• Setting out the tariff-setting methodology
• Developing the Financial Model
• Reviewing the utility’s rate application
• Creating the Draft Decision
• Running public consultation
• Creating the Final Decision

eapirf, agm, 2009

Last updated 683 days ago by EAPIRF Secretariat