On November 1, 2011, the Asia-pacific Photovoltaic Expo opened at the Sands Convention and Exhibition Center in Singapore. Mr. Shi Zhengrong, founder and CEO of Suntech, was appointed executive Chairman of The Asia Photovoltaic Industry Association (APVIA). At the same time, the importance of the solar industry in Southeast Asia has risen.

"The goal of the ASSOCIATION is to increase photovoltaic investment in the region and communicate with regional governments to promote the development of the photovoltaic industry," Shi said at the opening ceremony. He also stressed that there would be closer cooperation among Asian photovoltaic companies, with the Role of the Asian Photovoltaic Association similar to that of EPIA in Europe.

Southeast Asia, meanwhile, is rapidly becoming another solar darling, along with The Asian giants Of China and India.

The Southeast Asian market is becoming increasingly important to both manufacturers and investors, Ja Solar CHIEF Executive Fang Peng told reporters. "The Asia-Pacific pv market is growing very fast. Projects like those in Malaysia and Thailand are on the rise. What southeast Asia needs now is a unified policy and to figure out the right system, the right feed-in tariff and so on to drive the development of solar energy."

Appropriate feed-in tariff

The topic of renewable energy policy, particularly photovoltaic policy, was raised at the pv seminar held in conjunction with the exhibition. Shamsuddin Khalid, chairman of the Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association, aptly points out the current state of the SOUTHEAST Asian photovoltaic market: "The country with the most sunshine is the country with the least policy change. How do we convince the government that solar pv is the best option?"

Malaysia's proposed feed-in tariff has been the focus of much attention. Shamsuddin Khalid hopes for a final feed-in tariff