1. Overview of 10th Government-Industry Meeting

With the backing of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and co-sponsored by the Malaysia Road Transport Department (JPJ) and JASIC, the 10th Government-Industry Meeting was held from 29 November - 1 December 2005, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with about 170 people from 15 countries/territories in attendance, including government representatives related to transport, environment, and regulations; representatives of automobile manufacturers and other industry groups; and observers.

13 Asian territories:

Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan.

2 observer countries:

Australia, Germany

On 1 December, a technical tour was conducted of the Malaysia Rubber Board (MRB) facilities, along with a study tour of Putrajaya, the new administrative capital city.

2. Results of 10th Government-Industry Meeting

The 10th Government-Industry Meeting was the first round of the 4th Series of Government-Industry Meetings, whose theme is: "Accession to the 1958/1998 Agreements and improved Asian presence in WP29." At the meeting, the participating countries/territories expressed a wide range of profound ideas and exchanged opinions on three objectives: (1) realizing the ratification of the 1958/1998 Agreements by Asian countries/territories and increasing the number of ratifying countries/territories; (2) expanding participation in WP29 and getting out information on the actual state of affairs in Asia; and (3) strengthening solidarity among Asian countries/territories with the prospect of effecting a smooth transfer to new government-industry meetings.

Regarding the first objective of membership in the U.N. Agreements, it was reported that Malaysia is moving ahead with the procedure to join the 1958/1998 Agreements, while Thailand has gone through most of the membership procedure and is on the verge of joining the 1958 Agreement. Some countries/territories expressed their intention to join the 1958 Agreement in the wake of these two countries, in 2007, and the participating countries/territories shared an understanding of the need for countries/territories to discuss specifics about mutual recognition under the 1958 Agreement in Asia when the time was right.

Concerning the second objective of expanding WP29 participation and getting out information about actual conditions in Asia, Japan, China, Korea, and India have been participating in WP29 on an ongoing basis, and in November of this year Indonesia participated for the first time as an observer. What is more, there were signs that the Asian presence is more solid with, for example, the start of activities at the WP29 based on proposals from China and India regarding motorcycle exhaust gas test methods.

As for the third objective of strengthening solidarity among Asian countries/territories with the prospect of effecting a smooth transfer to new government-industry meetings, Indonesia and Thailand gave reports on the experts meetings that were held this year. In addition, several countries/territories, including Malaysia and Thailand, expressed their intention to hold experts meetings in the future and decided to coordinate with JASIC regarding a specific timetable. This meeting confirmed and shared an understanding that such ongoing experts meetings are a link to strengthened solidarity among Asian countries/territories and a key element in building a framework for new government-industry meetings.

The results of the meeting confirmed the direction of activities aimed at harmonizing regulations through future government-industry meetings, and they were summarized in a wrap-up.

3. Schedule of the Next Government-Industry Meeting

It was proposed that the 11th Government-Industry Meeting would be held under the sponsorship of the Indonesia Road Transport Department (DGLC), and the DGLC accepted.

Date of meeting: 29 November - 1 December 2006
Location: Indonesia

It was announced that the 12th meeting in 2007 will be held in the Philippines.

Photo of gathering of representative participants

Panel Discussion

Technical tour
(Malaysia Rubber Board)

Technical tour
(Putrajaya, New Administrative Capital City)