Guest Editor's Note

The Asian energy landscape has been transformed over the past decade. In 1997 the Asian financial crisis saw much of the regional banking system implode as companies with weak credit standing defaulted on loans extended more often than not with a political agenda in view. And the upshot was that more than two decades of relentless growth in economic activity and energy demand first came to an abrupt halt and then went into sharp reverse.

Fast forward ten years and the picture is very different, at least in Asia. The banking system is stronger and economic growth generally more firmly based. And the resultant surge in energy demand is no less frenetic than in the early 1990s, albeit with new regional hotspots. The Asian tigers of the 1990s have been joined by countries such as Vietnam that were mere cubs a decade ago.

There are legacy issues. Several articles in this issue of Insight highlight the problems facing Indonesia, one of the countries worst affected by the 1997 crisis. From being a major fuel supplier to Asian and wider energy market in the mid-1990s, the country's position as an oil exporter has been reversed and its role as a leading gas and coal exporter faces questions as a result of a decade of under-investment.

The Indonesian story also highlights some of the issues that face not only Jakarta but much of the rest of Asia in meeting the burgeoning demand for energy.

Across the energy spectrum, Asia is dominated by state-owned companies. Now state ownership is not in itself a problem, if the companies operate on a solely economic basis and not as instruments of social policy. And, just as important, if the companies are obliged to operate competitively on a level playing field. On both points many Asian countries still have a way to go, but go they must if they are to meet their people's energy needs on a sustainable basis in an increasingly competitive and global energy market.

Martin Daniel

Editor, Platts Power in Asia

Martin Daniel