From November 16-19, a US-AEP delegation of 13 renowned researchers, policy makers, and practitioners-- representing India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand-- joined more than 350 other participants at the Greening of Industry Network annual conference at the University of California-Santa Barbara. This sixth international conference provided a platform for sharing research results, practical experiences, and visions of the "greening of industry" in society. Participation of the Asian delegation was made possible through the cooperation of US-AEP's Policy Group and the Environmental Exchange Program. One of the conference's plenary panels, "Greening of Industry in Asia: The Time is Now," was conducted by Owen Cylke and Mike Rock of The Policy Group, along with US-AEP delegation members Ooi Giok Ling, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore, and Ir. Kandiah Kumarasivam, President of the Environmental Management and Research Association of Malaysia. In addition, delegate Vandana Bhatnagar of the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi gave a presentation on "An Environmental Rating System for Corporate Facility Performance." The US-AEP Policy Group also conducted a workshop to describe the program's policy activities. Building on the conference, representatives of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta met with US-AEP staff in Washington, D.C., on November 21.

US-AEP continues to engage in activities related to the Indonesian forest fire emergency, recently responding to a government of Indonesia request for air monitoring assistance to measure the human health impact of the fires. Through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US-AEP provided the services of four senior technical experts from EPA's research laboratory in Raleigh, North Carolina. Two teams, composed of both technical and scientific experts, brought state-of-the-art air monitoring equipment to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Palembang in southern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Malaysian monitoring site suffers from major air quality problems caused by haze from Indonesia, while the Indonesian location is central to major forest and peat fires, is heavily populated, and has a stable source of electric power to run the equipment. Air quality was monitored in these locations over a three-week period, and air samples and filters have now been hand-carried back to the United States where they will undergo a series of scientific tests at EPA laboratories.

After the US-AEP Overseas Program Fund brought them to the October 1997 WEFTEC conference in Chicago, eight delegates from the private sector in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand flew to Denver to participate in the Colorado Ambassador Program's first major international business exchange, held October 22-25. Created to help small and mid-sized environmental companies participate in international trade, the program enabled 55 Colorado companies to take part in more than 140 one-on-one business sessions with the Asian visitors. Delegates reported that many of the companies they encountered in Colorado offered products and services relevant to their business needs and were pleased with their quality. The Ambassador Program is a joint venture of the Colorado Environmental Business Alliance, World Trade Center Denver, Colorado International Trade Office, Denver Mayor's Office of Economic Development, and U.S. Export Assistance Center. It is funded by the Rocky Flats Local Impacts Initiative and the U.S. Department of Commerce, with in-kind support from CH2MHill. US-AEP's Overseas Program Fund is managed by the National Association of State Development Agencies.

In mid-November, US-AEP sponsored a 10-day training course in strategic management techniques for 30 senior Indonesian water enterprise directors. The training was co-sponsored by PERPAMSI (the Indonesian Water Authority Association) and approved by LAN (Civil Service Administration Institute), so that participants earned promotion points for course completion. Developed and conducted in the local language by Research Triangle Institute--the contractor for the USAID-assisted Municipal Finance Project in Indonesia--the project also enabled a number of U.S. firms to make contact with the water authorities. After opening speeches by the Indonesian sponsors and William Gelman of USAID/Indonesia, representatives of American companies in the water sector in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong were given the opportunity to hold meetings with the participants. One U.S. company sponsored a coffee break and, as a result, was able to hold business discussions with two of the water enterprise directors. Seven U.S. firms--two based in offices outside of Indonesia and five from Jakarta--gave brief corporate presentations to the attendees, and the two out-of-town companies received an overview of potential water enterprise opportunities in Indonesia from local project contractor personnel.

US-AEP/Singapore, along with the Singapore Economic Development Board, conducted a breakfast presentation for attendees of Environmex/Watermex Asia, held at the World Trade Center in Singapore from November 4-7. The conference, which took place in conjunction with Chem/Analab Asia and Manufacturing Asia, attracted approximately 50 U.S. firms, a third of which represented the environmental sector. The states of Maryland and Virginia participated in conjunction with their local firms, and US-AEP/Singapore played a key role in scheduling one-on-one meetings for their representatives to meet with Asian businesses. In addition, the Los Angeles Export Assistance Center conducted a catalog show from US-AEP's booth, which was staffed by Axel Kornerup from US-AEP/Philippines and proved a popular stop for conference attendees.

Welcome to Suneel Parasnis, Deputy Technology Representative for Mumbai, and K. Balakrishnan, Deputy Technology Representative for New Delhi. Parasnis graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University of Pune, India. Since August of 1990, he has worked his way up through the ranks at Thermax Limited, a large environmental turnkey company in India. Most recently, he held the position of Sales Manager for Thermax Limited's Waste Management Division.