The National Workshop on IMO Conventions for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution was held at Meeting Room No. 2, Ministry of Transport, 80-Tran Doa St., Hanoi, from 21 to 22 April 1997, and at Meeting Hall B, Saigon Port, 3 Nguyen Tat Thanh St., District 4, Ho Chi Minh City, from 24 to 25 April 1997. The workshop was co-sponsored by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Viet Nam Bureau of Maritime Affairs (VINAMARINE). Financial support for the workshop was provided by the Government of Norway. Participants from various government offices and agencies attended the two-day workshops, as well as representatives from shipping companies, port authorities, Petrovietnam and the Viet Nam Maritime University. A total of 109 participants attended the sessions. The workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Vuong Dinh Lam, Director, International Cooperation Department, VINAMARINE, and Mr. Adrian Ross, IMO Regional Programme Office, Manila, Philippines.

This publication summarizes the results of the Malacca Straits Consultative Meeting, held at the Tambuli Beach Villa, Cebu, Philippines, from 12 to 13 March 1997. The Meeting was organized by the GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas. The meeting was organized to review the risk assessment report and determine the 1997 work plan follow-on activities for the Malacca Straits Demonstration Project. This publication is a product of the Regional Workshop on Operational Oil Spill Modeling with Special Reference to the Malacca Straits, held in Pusan, RO Korea, from 31 May to 3 June 1996. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI), the Republic of Korea, and the Subcommission for the Western Pacific of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (WESTPAC/IOC).

This publication summarizes the Proceedings of the Regional Conference on Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution: Public Sector - Private Sector Partnership, held in Manila, Philippines, from 14 to 16 November 1996, the conclusions and recommendations developed and adopted by the gathering, and the technical papers that were presented during the three-day event. The conclusions and recommendations focus on the roles and responsibilities of government, international agencies, donors, investors/lenders, and the private sector for promoting and advancing the environmental industry throughout the East Asian Seas. The GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme was challenged to continue the development and adoption of public sector - private sector partnerships and to demonstrate practical applications of this approach in the East Asian region, particularly at the local level.

The IMO/APCEL/MPA Workshop on the Ratification and Implementation of MARPOL 73/78 was held at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore from 30 October to 1 November 1996. The workshop was co-sponsored by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Asia-Pacific Center for Environmental Law (APCEL) and the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore. Financial support for the workshop was provided by the Government of Norway. Participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Viet Nam attended. The workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Robert Beckman, APCEL and Mr. Adrian Ross, IMO.

This proceedings is a product of the Regional Workshop on Operational Oil Spill Modelling with Special Reference to the Malacca Straits, held in Pusan, the Republic of Korea, from 31 May to 3 June 1996. The workshop was organized by the GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas (MPP-EAS), in cooperation with the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI), the Republic of Korea, and the Subcommission for the Western Pacific of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (WESTPAC/IOC). To prevent and reduce marine pollution, the MMP-EAS has been developing demonstration projects for the application of the integrated coastal management system and working models for multinational cooperation in international waters. The workshop is part of the efforts to develop scientific tools and techniques for improving the management of marine pollution. Its specific objective is to foster regional and subregional cooperation in oil spill modelling as an effective tool for contingency planning and responses. With the participation of 50 scientists and managers from 10 countries of the East Asian region, the workshop has packaged and evaluated the experience of the region and identified future directions in the development and application of operational oil spill models. These results have been incorporated in the proceedings. The proceedings has three major components: an executive summary, papers presented, and conclusions and recommendations made by the workshop. The executive summary, together with the annexes, outlines the events and processes of the workshop.

Despite the priority attention given to ICM, very little information on lessons learned from past experiences has been systematically compiled and analyzed. To help fill this information gap, the International Workshop on Integrated Coastal Management in Tropical Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from Successes and Failures was conducted. The workshop, held in Xiamen, People's Republic of China, from May 24-28, 1996, brought together many of the world's leading experts on ICM, some of whom are pioneers on the ICM concept; members of international organizations promoting ICM; and novice practitioners. This publication contains the summary of the working sessions. More importantly, it contains the report of the main findings of the workshops, that is, "Enhancing the Success of Integrated Coastal Management: Good Practices for the Formulation, Design and Implementation of Integrated Coastal Management," based on the contributions of the participants.

The Marine Pollution Monitoring and Information Management Inception Workshop was held at the Manila Galleria Suites, Pasig City, Philippines, on 8-10 April 1996. It was attended by representatives from ten countries. Also present were Mr. Kevin McGrath, the UNDP Resident Representative, Dr. Chua Thia-Eng, the IMO Regional Programme Manager, and Dr. Gil S. Jacinto, the Marine Pollution Monitoring and Information Management (MPMIM) Network Coordinator.

The Inception Workshop for the Regional Network of Legal Experts on Marine Pollution was held at the Manila Galleria Suites, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on 18-19 March 1996. It was attended by 17 participants from 10 countries in East Asia, namely: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The objectives of the Workshop were: to produce a directory of Network members; to formulate the Network’s operational plan; to obtain commitments from the members to participate in the Network activities; and to plan activities.