The joint meeting of the twelfth Session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific (RESAP) and High-level Expert Group Meeting on the Preparations for the Third Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific is organized by UNESCAP and will be hosted by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), at its sixty-second session held at Jakarta from 6 to 12 April 2006, welcomed the offer made by the Government of Malaysia to host the Third Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific and encouraged all members and associate members of UNESCAP to participate in the conference. Subject to the final agreement with the host country, the Ministerial Conference is tentatively scheduled to be held from 5 to 10 February 2007 at Putrajaya, Malaysia.

In view of the importance of the forthcoming Ministerial Conference, the ICC session and high-level expert group meeting are strategically organized as one of the regional preparatory activities to:

• review the implementation of the RESAP and preparatory activities towards the Ministerial Conference;
• examine comprehensively the draft background documents, including regional strategy and action plan, as well as;
• discuss the content of the draft ministerial declaration that will be placed before the Ministerial Conference for adoption.