During the IOC-WESTPAC 10th intergovernmental session in Phuket, Thailand (12-15 May 2015), members of the IOC express their full support for the project. Countries which include China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Russia and Myanmar has express their interest during the proposal presentation.

Early effort for the project was established through discussion among researchers form only few countries. We extended our invitation to attract other researchers but unfortunately there are very few responses. Thus, this initiative for the first workshop will be very important to attract important researchers of the field and interested researchers who involved in upwelling studies in their country to contribute to this effort. We intended to use this meeting as a starting point to enhance discussions and collaboration by gathering important information related to upwelling from all countries bordering the South China Sea and surrounding ocean.

We believe it is the right time for us to put collective effort in understanding the upwelling dynamics in the region. Upwelling dynamics holds a very important value that require special focus if we are serious in managing our ocean resources. Effects of climate change, monsoon variability, and ENSO on the upwelling system are poorly understood. On the other hand, the effect of upwelling on HAB has recently attract many interest from researchers. There are still many aspect of the seas in our region that are not well comprehended. Thus, the meeting will hopefully can become very important initiatives to address these concern.