One important event in 1996 was the decision arrived at by the ASEAN Ministers on Energy in their 14th Meeting in July in Kuala Lumpur, to transform AEEMTRC into an ASEAN energy centre For the Centre to play its role as a strategic regional centre, it must open its doors for dialogue relationships while maintaining an important partnership with the EU. Dialogue relationships could increase the dynamism and optimism for AEEMTRC to take bolder steps to transform the Centre into a long-term sustainable Centre of excellence and to face the critical future challenges of the energy sector beyond 1999.