December 1-4, 1997
Bahrain

The Fourth Asia-Pacific Conference on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (APC-MCSTA) with support of the Government of the State of Bahrain and hosted by the University of Bahrain; in cooperation with China National Space Administration (CNSA), China; Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan; Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) of the Republic of KOREA; and Space Development Committee (SDC) of the Ministry of Transport & Communications (MOTC), Thailand, was held in Manama, Bahrain, with the participants from 14 countries and 3 international organizations.

Recognizing an ever developing field of space technology and its applications to serve the rapidly increasing demand for socioeconomic development, and growing needs in Asia-Pacific countries to better share space cooperation achievements on multilateral/bilateral international cooperation bases.

Bearing in mind the Recommendations of the Asia-Pacific Workshop on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications held in Beijing, China in November/December 1992; of the First APC-MCSTA held in Bangkok, Thailand in January 1994; of the Second APC-MCSTA held in Islamabad, Pakistan in April 1995; and of the Third APC-MCSTA held in Seoul, Korea in May 1996.

Acknowledging the basic consensus made in the implementation of the Recommendations of these earlier four events of AP-MCSTA, especially the milestone achievements made in the Small Multi-Mission Satellite (SMMS) Project;

Noting that the organization and coordination of SMMS Project for efficient management and implementation would serve to institutionalize AP-MCSTA Initiative to accelerate development of indigenous capabilities in space technology and its applications in the entire region;

The Conference participants recommend that:
(1) implementation of the SMMS Project be accelerated by the member countries. This would greatly facilitate the development of organizational structure and the institutionalization mechanism of AP-MCSTA;

(2) more countries of the Asia-Pacific region may be encouraged to join the multilateral cooperation, especially the SMMS Project through indicating their desire to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in the Small Multi-Mission Satellite Project and Related Activities (MOU);

(3) the Coordinator of the Liaison Committee for the Asia-Pacific Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (LCAP-MCSTA) may provide coordination for the Official Signing of the MOU and assistance in the implementation of the SMMS Project;

(4) the Small Satellite Technology Working Group, with China as the Coordinator, may submit the revised Joint Proposal on SMMS (November, 1997) to the SMMS Project Committee stipulated in the MOU, and may continue work on further development of small satellite technology projects;

(5) the Satellite Disaster Mitigation System(SDMS) Project Working Group, with China as the Coordinator, may continue to carry out the study and propose a plan of action for future cooperation;

(6) the Communication Satellite Technology and Applications Working Group, with Pakistan as the Coordinator, may provide a draft document identifying technologies/applications for possible cooperation within this region;

(7) countries of this region who possess the well developed space science, technology and application programs should be encouraged to enhance the support to provide training to the interested countries of this region;

(8) countries of the Asia-Pacific region are encouraged to become members of the Liaison Committee for AP-MCSTA and to benefit all the countries of the region through active interaction;

(9) LCAP-MCSTA may step up its efforts by more frequent publishing of the AP-MCSTA Newsletter, holding workshops, establishing information network etc. to promote the awareness of AP-MCSTA program for the benefit of the countries of this region;

(10) appreciating the active role played by China as the Coordinator since 1993, it may continue to be the Coordinator of the LCAP-MCSTA;

(11) LCAP-MCSTA may be encouraged to increase cooperation with international organizations, such as United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), European Space Agency (ESA) etc. and help smooth implementation of AP-MCSTA’ s programs;

(12) the Liaison Committee for AP-MCSTA may establish contact with the international/regional organizations/institutions in order to get support in the implementation of the programs of AP-MCSTA;

(13) the logo of AP-MCSTA presented by Thailand to the Liaison Committee during Pre-Conference meeting in Bahrain may be accepted as a candidate, Formal acceptance may be granted after the logo is presented in its modified form suggested by the Conference;

(14) The Coordinator of the Liaison Committee for AP-MCSTA, on priority basis, may seek offers for hosting the fifth APC-MCSTA;

The above Recommendations were adopted by consensus at the final Plenary Session of the Conference held on December 4, 1997 in Manama, Bahrain.