Officials from 16 IARU Member Societies in Region 3 attended the IARU Region 3 15th Triennial Conference. Hosted by the Vietnam Amateur Radio Club (VARC), the conference took place November 5-9 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Delegates from 16 IARU Member Societies -- ARRL (USA), ARSI (India), BDRA (Brunei Darussalam), CRSA (China), CTARL (Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio League), HARTS (Hong Kong), JARL (Japan), KARL (Republic of Korea), MARTS (Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters’ Society), NZART (New Zealand), ORARI (Indonesia), PARA (Philippine Amateur Radio Association), RAST (Thailand), SARTS (Singapore), VARC (Vietnam) and WIA (Australia) were present in Ho Chi Minh City. The Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association (PIARA) was represented via proxy by JARL.

IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, and IARU Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, represented the IARU. IARU Region 1 President Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, and Secretary Dennis Green, ZS4BS, represented IARU Region 1 at the conference, with IARU Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro, YV5AM, and Secretary Ramon Santoyo XE1KK, representing IARU Region 2. ARRL International Affairs Vice President Jay Bellows, K0QB, led the ARRL delegation. ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, was also in attendance.

VARC Chairman Nguyen Minh Duc, 3W2REH, opened the conference. Lee Manh Ha, the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, along with Nguyen Van Thu, the Deputy Manager of the Radio Frequency Management Department and Director of the Center for Regional Frequency Management 2 of the Ministry of Telecommunications of Vietnam, warmly welcomed everyone to Ho Chi Minh City. Ellam and Lake also participated in the opening ceremony, and paid tributes to former IARU Chairman Michael Owen, VK3KI (SK), on behalf of the IARU, Region 3 and radio amateurs all over the world. Owen passed away September 22. The meeting observed a minute of silence in Owen’s memory. Throughout the duration of the conference, a series of photographs of Michael were placed at the top table to remember him.

Terry Carrell, ZL3QL, of New Zealand was nominated as the Conference Chairman by VARC, and accepted by the conference. Carrell serves as President of AMSAT-New Zealand (AMSAT-ZL).

Highlights of the conference included:

• Two Region 3 Member Societies submitted resolutions for increasing the number of Directors from the present five to either six or seven, in order to provide greater representation from the Member Societies, and to be able to work on the many issues that need attention. This item was discussed in detail and delegates to the conference agreed to increase the number of Region 3 Directors to six.
• Consequent to the decision of conference to elect six directors, the following six nominations were received and declared elected, unopposed: Peter Lake, ZL2AZ (New Zealand), Joong Guen Rhee, HL1AQQ (South Korea), Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI (Japan), Geoff Atkinson, VK3TL (Australia), Wisnu Widjaja YB0AZ (Indonesia) and Gopal Madhavan, VU2GMN (India). The newly elected group of Directors then elected Madhavan as its Chairman. Katsumi (Ken) Yamamoto, JA1CJP, was returned unopposed as Secretary. The auditor was also reappointed.
• Two Working Groups were formed: WG1 discussed policy matters that included education, training, development of Amateur Radio and international and regional conferences involving radio administrations, while WG2 discussed operational and technical matters, including emergency communications, the IARU R3 Award and band plans. In addition, the Finance Committee was convened at times when all delegates were invited and available to participate. A total of 61 documents were discussed by the Working Groups and recommendations were submitted to the conference.
• One of the major items for consideration was the possible increase in subscriptions, a subject that had been initiated at the last conference in Christchurch. This has engaged the attention of all Region 3 Member Societies during the past three years, as the current rates of subscription payments just about balanced the expenses of the region without generating much for building up a reserve or covering inflation. According to Yamamoto, the conference debated this issue, recognized the need for an increase and voted for an increase of 20 percent over the current IARU Region 3 subscription rates.
• Most Regional Coordinators were reappointed. The Conference appointed Onno W Purbo, YC0MLC, to the vacant EMC Coordinator’s position, due to the resignation of Chang Won-Seok, HL3QVU. The EMR Coordinators position remains vacant after the death of Keith Malcolm, VK1KM. The Directors were tasked with finding someone to do this job.
• Provisions were made for Region 3 officials to attend meetings of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Conference Preparatory Group for WRC-15.
• The Organisasi Amatir Radio Indonesia (ORARI) noted that it is an advanced stage of preparations to launch an amateur satellite from a launch pad in India.
• The Conference accepted a proposal from the WIA to sponsor and implement an annual award in memory of the Michael Owen, VK3KI (SK). The award will be conferred upon the radio amateur who achieves the highest Region 3 individual score in the annual IARU HF Contest. The WIA will fund and present a suitable trophy each year.

The IARU’s Administrative Council (AC) met just before the Region 3 Conference, with Lake and Yamamoto participating on behalf of Region 3, with Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI, attending as an observer. The Directors of Region 3 also met before the Region 3 Conference to concentrate with preparing for the conference. The re-elected and new Directors also met after the conference to prepare for the next triennium of work.

The conference received an invitation from ORARI to host the 16th IARU Region 3 Conference at Jogjakarta in Central Java, Indonesia in late 2015. The conference adopted the motion to hold the next conference in Indonesia.