A regional conference and exhibition on petroleum and related technologies - equipment was opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7on November 28

The 10th ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) Conference and Exhibition, titled “Innovation and Development-Forward to the Future”,  featured latest technological achievements and modern equipments related to the oil and gas industry from around 120 local and international enterprises operating in the field.

In addition, the current issues faced across the ASEAN markets related to the oil and gas industry and ASCOPE upcoming plan will be discussed during the event.

The 3-day event, which is held every four years by ASCOPE members, was the first time that the event is being hosted in the country by Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

The decision was announced at the 9th ASCOPE conference and exhibition, entitled “Fuelling for the Future of ASEAN towards Sustainable Development”, took place in Thailand in late November last year.

“By bringing the region's leading specialists and decision makers together, the ASCOPE has become the archetypal instrument for cooperation among the member countries in this field,” said ASCOPE. ASCOPE is the name for both the regional association of national oil companies/authorities and its international meetings.

ASCOPE was set up on October 15, 1975 with five founding members of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

“Since its establishment in 1975, the council has successfully accomplished its objectives - starting from promoting a policy, legal and regulatory framework; undertaking joint techno-economics studies; developing a knowledge management system for information exchange; promoting and sharing researchers' works; up to undertaking value added activities on oil and gas development,” said ASCOPE.

Vietnam became the council’s seventh member in November 1996.