CCOP

CCOP-GSJ Groundwater Project Phase V Kick-off Meeting (GW-14) and 10th GSI International Workshop

The CCOP-GSJ Groundwater Project Phase V Kick-off Meeting (GW-14) and the 10th International Workshop of the Geoinformation Sharing Infrastructure in East and Southeast Asia (GSi) were jointly held on 17-19 March 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand. It was attended by 43 participants from Brunei Darussalam, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. OYO Corporation from Japan attended as the Observer.

Mr. Parinya Khumsraprom, Deputy Director General of the Department of Groundwater Resources, Thailand (DGR) and Mr. Yongzheng Ma, CCOPTS Director, welcomed all the participants to the meeting. Dr. Shinsuke Nakao, Chairperson of CCOP Steering Committee, Permanent Representative of Japan to CCOP, Director-General of Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, officially opened the meeting.

The CCOP-GSJ Groundwater Project Phase IV was kicked off in 2019 and concluded in 2024. All the annual meeting reports have been published as well as the electronic version, which have been made available at the GSJ website, https://www.gsj.jp/en/publications/ccop-gsj/index.html, and at the CCOP website, https://ccop.asia/e-library. During Phase IV, the project updated, expanded, and improved the CCOP Groundwater Database, made accessible via the GSi Web System, https://ccop-gsi.org/gsi/groundwater/index.php.
Dr. Shinji Matsumoto, the GSJ Groundwater Project Phase V Leader, presented the achievements of the previous four Phases, particularly emphasizing that water resources should be managed from the perspective of regional groundwater basins shared among countries, instead of being governed solely within national boundaries. Twelve (12) country reports on “Impact of Extreme Weather on Groundwater and Surface Water Resources: Current Challenges, Policy and Research Trends” were presented and discussed actively.

Dr. Shinji Takarada, CCOP-GSJ GSi Project Leader, presented the progress of the project. To date, a total of 4,600 map layers are available on the GSi Web System, with 3,654 visible to all users.

Dr. Joel Bandibas, the GSi System Developer, presented the system’s updates and new features, focusing on the following Web Processing Services available in GSi. Country reports of Brunei Darussalam, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were presented. This includes progress of data upload and country portal sites, requests and suggestions for GSi system improvements and recent geoinformation developments in each country.

Dr. Joel Bandibas, the GSi System developer from the Geological Survey of Japan, led the joint workshop on Groundwater Database Compilation using CCOP GSi System which included training of the usage of the system. Hands-on exercises in uploading groundwater well data to the GSi system were also conducted.

During the two workshops, there is an exhibition from OYO Corporation Co. Ltd from Japan about monitoring water, survey, design, and measurement services for disaster-resistant infrastructure development.

For more information, please visit https://ccop.asia/news/332

CCOP Technical Secretariat attended the 15th Joint Working Groups Meeting of the ASEAN Minerals Cooperation (JWG), which was held from 9 to 13 February 2026, in the ASEAN Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat and dialogue partners, including the U.S., ADB, ESCAP, ERIA, IGF, SEforALL, and the World Bank.

On 11 February 2026, Mr. Yongzheng Ma, Director of the CCOP Technical Secretariat, presented the cooperation progress on the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) Project and potential collaboration with ASEAN Member States (AMS), and listened to the feedback from the AMS on their priorities and to understand specific alignment with the ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan IV (AMCAP-IV) and ASEAN Minerals Development Vision (AMDV).

On 12 February 2026, in the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Working Group on Minerals Information and Database (28th WGMID), Ms. Marivic Pulvera Uzarraga, CCOPTS Manager of Project Operation & Information, presented a brief on the progress of the AKCF Project on Critical Minerals Management and Strategy for Sustainable Environment in ASEAN, on updating the ASEAN Critical Minerals Data Platform (ACMDP) and the availability of data on the platform.

https://ccop.asia/news/331

On 23 January 2026, the CCOP Technical Secretariat, led by Director Mr. MA Yongzheng, took part in the celebration marking the 134th anniversary of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), Thailand and conveyed congratulations to Mr. Suvapak Imsamut, Deputy Director-General and Acting Major Somkid Kitueawiriya, Inspector.

Visit our website https://ccop.asia/news/329