Honourable Chair,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to all ESCAP members, associate members and cooperation partners for taking part in this Fourth Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.
Let me also express gratitude to His Excellency Laksana Tri Handoko, Chairman of BRIN for his presence and valuable guidance during the session. This demonstrates Indonesia’s commitment to advancing regional cooperation on space applications.
Excellencies and distinguished delegates
Please allow me to share a few final thoughts:
First, I applaud the adoption of the “Jakarta Ministerial Declaration on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.”
The Declaration reaffirms the value of collaborative partnerships and the engagement of all major groups and other stakeholders, as appropriate, to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The online dashboard maintained by the secretariat shows that the catalogue of good practices has been steadily growing since 2018 and showcases the implementation of more than 600 individual activities that contribute to 154 actions of the total 188 actions contained in the Plan of Action.
Without a doubt, this declaration will not only sustain this momentum of increasing integration of space and geospatial information applications in support of sustainable development but also reach countries in special situations to ensure that everyone in our region captures the benefits of space science, technology and its applications.
More fundamentally, the adoption of this Declaration shows the strong commitment of members and associate members to address outstanding and emerging development challenges of persistent poverty, food security, inequalities, threats to global health, vulnerability to shocks, natural disasters, climate change and environmental degradation.
I appreciate that many of you are representing space agencies. This commitment will necessarily mean acceleration of the paradigm shift already underway in many agencies as your plans and operations engage multiple stakeholders in various sectors.
As a regional development platform, ESCAP, along with the rest of the United Nations system and relevant partners, stands ready to support and take necessary actions to deliver on the aspirations contained in the Jakarta Declaration.
Finally, I would like to thank the Chair, His Excellency Laksana Tri Handoko, Chair of the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia, and the Vice-Chairs for skilfully guiding the proceedings to their successful conclusion.
I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all ministers, deputy ministers, vice ministers, ambassadors who provided such visionary statements at the opening session to highlight pathways for our way forward to strengthen regional cooperation.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates
As always, all of us at ESCAP remain grateful to our gracious host - the Government of Indonesia, and particularly the National Innovation and Research Agency (BRIN), for their excellent work to ensure the success of the Conference.
I would like to thank colleagues of the ESCAP secretariat staff, who have worked hard, tirelessly and professionally to make this session a truly special occasion for everyone.
Thank you very much.
