Based on Taiwan-US IEP (International Environmental Partnership) collaborative efforts to promote SSEA-AIR project (South and Southeast Asia-Air Improvements in the Region Program) starting from 2018, the Environmental Protection Administration of Taiwan (EPAT) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) again co-hosted “2019 South ＆ Southeast Asia-Air Improvements in the Region (SSEA-AIR) Annual Meeting” again in 2019. The 129 participants consist of 27 high-ranking officials, technical officers, experts, and scholars from 4 SSEA countries： Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Mongolia, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN), USEPA, EPAT, advisory committee members of EPAT air pollution control and EPB. The Departments of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control, and Environmental Monitoring and Information Management of the Taiwan EPA, and the representatives from participating countries presented national reports to share the experiences of air pollution control, and discussed further collaboration plans hoping to improve the regional air quality together.
The collaborator of this project, ITRI, invited the former general director of SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District), Dr. Elaine Chen to discuss and give advices on five air pollution topics including air pollution control measures, integrated pollution control, HAP control for stationary sources, control of in-use vehicle emissions, the application of OBD in in-use vehicle emission control etc. There were many constructive discussion and advices proposed which help to improve the domestic air quality a lot.
While the new southbound countries improve their economics, many air pollution problems also emerge. As a result, the air quality deteriorates rapidly in these regions. Through this project, many domestic air pollution control companies were invited to showcase their products in Taiwan EXPO 2019 in Vietnam. In addition, through visiting environmental monitoring and educational institutes, hosting Taiwan-Vietnam industry-government-academia-research meeting, attending the “expert meeting for the marking in new southbound countries” and the “technical workshop of environmental inspection in new southbound countries”, the air pollution status and the demand for control equipment were better understood. The list of domestic companies for air pollution monitoring and control was compiled to facilitate the market expansion in the region and help improve the regional air quality.
