Dr. Jose Matheickal, Head ITCP Implementation and Major Projects from IMO’s Marine Environment Division and Ms. Josephine Uranza, IMO’s Regional Coordinator for East Asia, participated in the first high-level regional meeting covering the IMO project to Assist East Asian Countries in Ratifying and Implementing IMO Instruments for the Protection of the Marine Environment (10-11 March). The regional meeting, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was attended by the heads of maritime administrations, national focal points and national experts of the participating countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). The meeting concludes the planning phase of the project, which is being sponsored by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through the IMO/NORAD Cooperation Programme. Through this project, each participating country is given support in order to assist the country in acceding to and effectively implementing key IMO marine environment protection conventions.