17 July 2020, Kobe, Japan — The 19th Capacity Development Committee (CDC) meeting, 15th Scientific Planning Group Sub-Committee (SPG-SC) meeting and 43rd Steering Committee (SC) meeting took place by teleconference during the week starting from 13 July 2020.

The CDC meeting held on 13 July 2020 with the participation of members from India, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines and Viet Nam, considered proposals submitted under the Scientific Capacity Development (CAPaBLE) Programme and the Collaborative Research for Early-Career Scientists (CRECS) Small Grants Programme for recommendation to the SC for funding. The CDC also discussed its work in FY 2020.

The SPG-SC meeting held on 15 July 2020 with the participation of members from India, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the United States of America, considered proposals under the Collaborative Regional Research Programme (CRRP) for recommendation to the SC for funding. Preliminary discussions were also held on Scientific Planning Group election procedures and the improvement of the proposals review process, among others.

The SC meeting held on 17 July 2020 with the participation of delegates from Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam, accepted the report from the Secretariat on activities conducted in FY 2019. Additionally, the SC approved new awards from the 2019 calls for proposals and detailed information can be found here. Furthermore, the SC approved the work programme and budget plan for FY 2020 and provided guidance on the operations of APN, including: fourth and fifth strategic phase reporting and planning, respectively; subregional cooperation activities; project and proposal management; and communication and dissemination.