August 22-26 2003
Bangkok, Thailand

The Seventh Asia Pacific Conference on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (7th APC-MCSTA) was held in Bangkok on 22-26 August 2003. Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), Thailand hosted the Conference. Representatives from People’s Republic of Bangladesh, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Russia Federation, Thailand and (UN/ESCAP) participated in the conference.

Notwithstanding the diversity of political, economic, scientific and technological standards in different countries of the Asia Pacific Region, especially in the level of development of space technology and its applications, there is a common desire of using space technology and its applications, for the support of national economic development for the benefit of all people at national and regional level. Through international cooperation and pooling of resources, each country could benefit from telecommunication, navigation, remote sensing, meteorology, disaster mitigation and environmental control.

Bearing in mind the Asia Pacific Workshop on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications in December 1992, in Beijing, and the subsequent Asia Pacific Conferences on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications in Thailand, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Bahrain, Iran, and china have promoted the mutual understanding and trust while enlarged the space cooperation and exchange in this region. With the active support and effort from all member countries, the institutionalization and regional space cooperation projects could be further enhanced.

Consequent to the signing of the “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Cooperation in Small Multi-Mission Satellite (SMMS) Project and other Related Activities” on April 22, 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand, by China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Thailand, and the subsequent signing of this MOU by Bangladesh, the SMMS Project has entered into engineering phase and due to be launched in late 2005.

Confirming that the common ground reached in the past six Conferences on AP-MCSTA, especially the progress made in the SMMS project, through mutual efforts of the member countries, the AP-MCSTA has established its Secretariat Office in Beijing in 2002. The Workshop on Institutionalization of AP-MCSTA held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2002 and the First Meeting of the Drafting Group for APSCO Convention held in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2003 agreed to establish regional space cooperation mechanism with its Hosting Country in China. Substantial progress has been made in the institutionalization of the AP-MCSTA initiative.

Realizing to further promote the space cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region, especially among the developing countries, the institutionalization of the AP-MCSTA initiative and the establishment of Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization will enhance regional space cooperation. All countries in the Asia Pacific region are encouraged to participate in the drafting of the APSCO Convention and to be a member of APSCO,

The Conference Recommends:

1. Promoting space technology applications to implement the recommendation of the UNISPACE III and to maintain sustainable economical development of countries in this region. Cooperation in space technology, space application and space science should be further strengthened. SMMS project and its related activities shall be implemented with multilateral cooperation in space technology and with tentative launching of this satellite in late 2005 or early 2006. All countries in this region are encouraged to continue to join this project in its development, testing, training and applications.

2. Institutionalization of AP-MCSTA and the eventual establishment of APSCO have been facilitated by the drafting of APSCO Convention by the Secretariat and its subsequent discussion in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2003. The First Drafting Group Meeting confirmed that the Hosting Country for APSCO will be China and that the next Drafting Group Meeting will be held prior to the end of this year to further discuss the revised version of the APSCO Draft Convention, during which the Secretariat of AP-MCSTA shall be responsible for circulating the revised APSCO Convention to all related countries in this region for consideration and possible amendments prior to the Second Drafting Group Meeting of the APSCO Convention.

3. the Secretariat of AP-MCSTA, established in early 2002 has conducted a number of activities for the implementation of the recommendations of the previous Conferences and shall continue to implement recommendations of this conference and related activities. Member countries of AP-MCSTA and countries from this region are encouraged to send its representatives to work in the Secretariat office of AP-MCSTA as its contribution for regional space cooperation.

4. In order to maximize the benefit of space related education, and to minimize investment and expense, countries in this region are encouraged to support and provide training for other interested countries in space science, space technology and space application capabilities. It was also agreed that tele-education should be further promoted. The Conference noted with satisfaction that two short term training courses has been conducted in China accommodating 50 students from different countries in the region, with the third one being organized for opening in October. The Secretariat shall further study other possible means of education, including tele-education and e-education for fully utilization of regional educational resources. The Secretariat shall further explore the possibilities of the organization of more education and training programs in year 2004 and 2005 prior to the next conference.

5. Encourage the Liaison Committee of Asia-Pacific Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (LCAP-MCSTA) and the Secretariat of AP-MCSTA to strengthen its cooperations with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UN/OOSA) and UN/ESCAP.

6. the 8th APC-MCSTA will be held in Pakistan as offered by SUPARCO, subject to the approval of the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.