The Secretary General recapped the activities of the International Energy Charter in the area of LNG across its constituency, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and outlined future endeavours in this respect. He also underlined the indispensable role of the International Energy Charter and the Energy Charter Treaty in providing for a stable multilateral regulatory framework for all stakeholders in the energy sector, namely in the areas of cross-border trade and transit, and investment. The Treaty investment protection applies to a significant part of the LNG supply chain mitigating political, legal and regulatory risks for these investment projects. Dr Rusnák concluded his speech with an outline of a proposed Multilateral Framework Agreement on Energy Transit, whose main objective is to provide rules for facilitating and securing transit and facilitate investments in the energy infrastructure.

The 5th annual LNG Producer-Consumer Conference  was hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC). The Conference built up on the 4th Annual Conference held in September 2015 and aimed at sharing latest issues and challenges facing the creation of a stable, competitive and flexible global LNG market.