The 13th Senior Officials Meeting, together with the Expert Group Meeting, was held on 20-21 March 2008 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. As NEASPEC was launched in February 1993, the 13th SOM was the special occasion for celebrating the 15th anniversary as well as exploring new roles of NEASPEC.

The Meeting also discussed new roles of NEASPEC on developing new programme areas, enhancing ownership of the member countries, and making effective institutional arrangements.  

Key conclusions of SOM-13 are as follows:

• Recommended a full consultative process for further development of the preliminary biodiversity conservation project so that the project will be a full NEASPEC project with comprehensive participation by NEASPEC member countries
• Expressed the anticipation for early start of the implementation of the ADB RETA project on the Mitigation of Transboundary Air Pollution from Coal-fired Power Plants and requested the Secretariat to take practical steps to ensure appropriate financial arrangements for the participation of Russian Federation and DPRK
• Requested the Secretariat to develop an activity plan the Eco-Efficiency Partnership before the next SOM
• Requested the Secretariat to further develop the proposal for Mitigation of Dust and Sandstorm in collaboration with Mongolia and expressed the view that the project should ensure full participation of NEASPEC member countries