8TH HEADS OF ASIAN COAST GUARD AGENCIES MEETING-

WORKING LEVEL MEETING OF 8^TH HEADS OF ASIAN COAST GUARD AGENCIES MEETING-NEW DELHI

The first ever Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in South Asia is scheduled to be conducted in October 2012 in New Delhi.  HACGAM is an apex level forum facilitating congregation of all the major Coast Guard Agencies of Asian region.  This initiative was developed initially in 2004 to discuss cooperation among the member organizations to combat piracy in the region.  However, the scope of discussions has been expanded to include law enforcement, maritime security, disaster prevention and relief and capacity building. Presently, there are more than 20 member organizations from 17 countries that are part of the initiative.

Development of HACGAM

      The process of cooperation amongst the Asian Coast Guard Agencies was initiated by Japan consequent to the capture of the pirated vessel M.V. Alondra Rainbow by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in November 1999.  Subsequently, a series of Regional Senior Experts Meetings of Coast Guard Agencies of Asia were held on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships.  The 4^th such meeting held in Pattaya, Thailand in Feb 2004 recommended conducting the meeting of the Heads of Coast Guard Agencies in Jun 2004.  Accordingly, the first HACGAM was conducted at Tokyo, Japan in Jun 2004. At present, the initiative consists of 17 countries and one region.  These include Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.  Further, it was also agreed that the scope of discussions may not be restricted only to piracy issues, but may also include all Coast Guard related issues.

The HACGAM is conducted every year and seven such meetings have been conducted till date. The last meeting was held at Hanoi, Vietnam in Oct 11.

8^th HACGAM in New Delhi

The 8^th HACGAM is the first meeting being held in South Asian region and is being co-hosted by Indian Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard under the auspices of Nippon Foundation, Japan.  The Working Level Meeting (WLM) is being conducted from 18 to 19 Jul 2012 to discuss the agenda and prepare the documents for the 8^th HACGAM scheduled to be conducted from 01 to 04 Oct 12 at New Delhi.  The Nippon Foundation had also hosted “Conference on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships” and HACGAM until 2008.  Since 2009, the Foundation has been  co-sponsoring HACGAM.