Press Release No. G/34/99
16 November 1999
REGION HAS MADE PROGRESS IN SPACE APPLICATIONS
United Nations Information Services (UNIS), New Delhi, Tuesday, Nov.16, 1999--Although the region had a late start in space activities, it was catching up in terms of comprehensive capacity and investment, said India's Minister for Commerce and Industry HE Mr. Murasoli Maran at the opening ceremony yesterday of the Senior Officials Meeting of the Second Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. Maran however added that what was needed now was a pooling of resources so that natural disasters and other environmental problems could be curtailed swiftly.
"A sustainable development strategy requires appropriate integration of scientific and technological inputs with the developmental processes," he said.
The region can boast four major players in space science and technology applications and more than 30 countries have their own space application programmes particularly in remote sensing and meteorology.
Mr. Maran and other delegates also noted that there had been much progress since the first ever Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Development in Asia and the Pacific held five years ago in Beijing. The Regional Space Application Programme (RESAP) launched then has played a major role. "The pioneering initiative taken by the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has galvanised the region to take up many meaningful initiatives," said Mr. Maran.
The Deputy Executive Secretary of UN/ESCAP, Ms. Kayoko Mizuta, in her opening statement also said that the progress achieved was perhaps buttressed by the region's economic growth making the region a dynamic player in the technological field.
At least 11 remote sensing ground stations are running parallel with a considerable number of meteorological ground stations for acquisition of environmental data in about 30 countries. At least nine countries are engaged in multi-mission projects, said Ms. Mizuta.
In 1998 alone the region had access to more than 80 communication satellites providing over 1,700 transponders for telecommunications and television broadcasting.
Some 30 national remote sensing centres and programmes, and more than 20,000 scientists are active in the remote sensing field alone. "In addition, several countries with large geographic areas have invested more than US$100 million each in the development of spatial information infrastructure," said Ms. Mizuta. However she said there was an "unfinished agenda" that requires implementation.
"Many developing countries are still confronted by explosive growth of population, degradation of the environment, poor agricultural productivity and inadequate industrial and infrastructure development among other problems. These factors combined with a chronic lack of funds for the provision of basic social services have continuously resulted in an overall decrease in the quality of life on those countries," said Ms. Mizuta.
Infrastructure and human expertise available to analyse and integrate information with operational services was badly needed, she said.
An international science symposium entitled "Space Technology for Improving the Quality of Life in Developing Countries - A Perspective for the New Millennium" was inaugurated by Indian Minister for Human Resources Development and Science and Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, to coincide with the Senior Officials Meeting. "Among the sciences, space science by its very nature and span, provides a unique platform to see things as a whole, from earth to space; and from space to earth," Dr. Joshi told the meeting.
The Second Ministerial Conference is expected to launch a new phase of RESAP that will build upon the achievements and benefit from the experience in implementing its programme.
Some 21 Ministers are expected to attend the six-day meeting in New Delhi along with 108 senior officials from 20 countries. The Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will open the Ministerial segment on Thursday, 18 November 1999 at 16:30 hrs.
A technical exhibition called "Space 99" is also running parallel to the Conference.
The Ministerial Conference is an immediate follow-up of the Third United Nations Conference on Peaceful Uses and Exploration of Outer Space or UNISPACE-III held in Vienna from 19 - 30 July 1999. The Conference will take into account the recommendations of UNISPACE-III and bring the impact of this global event into the regional arena.
The Ministerial Conference is organised by UN ESCAP and hosted by the Government of India, Department of Space. Welcoming the delegates to the Senior Officials Meeting Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Secretary to Department of Space, Government of India said that the region should take advantage of emerging trends in space technology and work out plans to fully exploit the potential in high priority areas like food security, distance education, and disaster management.