After the meeting, the Letter of Cooperation (LOC) between the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) and NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) for the sustainable development and management of marine and coastal environment of the Seas of East Asia was signed by Dr. Alexander Tkalin, NOWPAP Coordinator, and Dr. Chua Thia-Eng, the Interim Executive Director of the PRF, making the two organizations official partners. The major areas of cooperation for the two organizations as stated in the LOC are:

• Sharing data and information (including publications) obtained by partners;
• Providing linkages on each other’s homepages;
• Participating, as appropriate, in the meetings and workshops organized by each party;
• Sharing experience and opportunities in capacity building on protection of the marine environment and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources, in particular in the field of marine pollution monitoring and assessment, marine environmental emergency preparedness and response, integrated coastal and river basin management and state of environment reporting;
• Any other co-operative areas and modalities which both parties agree upon in the course of the implementation of NOWPAP programme of work and the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA).

The meeting was successfully concluded with work program and budget of NOWPAP RCU and Regional Activity Centers (RACs) endorsed for the next biennium. The Integrated Coastal and River Basin Management (ICARM) project of NOWPAP was identified as one of the immediate areas of cooperation that PEMSEA and NOWPAP can work together. Cooperation between the organization would help maximize benefits gained and also remove duplication in efforts.