On Jul 21,2009,the “Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) International Symposium on Space Cooperation for the Asia-Pacific Region” opened in Thailand. The symposium was organized by APSCO and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand (MICT), supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MIIT), the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Mr. Nimit, Counselor to the Minister of MICT, Dr. Zhang Wei, Secretary General of APSCO, Mr. Lin Sen, Deputy Director of a department of MIIT, Mr. Niklas HEDMAN, Chief of Section, UNOOSA, and Mr. Lee Khiam Jin, Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP.

The International Symposium was the first significant conference since the foundation of APSCO, and received high attention from various agencies and organizations. All the 9 Convention Signing States of APSCO, Japan, and Malaysia sent representatives to participate in the symposium.

The purpose of the Symposium is to promote the applications and cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries in the fields of space technology and satellite applications, make new and even greater contributions to sharing experiences of space applications in different countries, improve their application levels, strengthen the abilities of the APSCO Member States against the issues such as natural disasters, climate change and environment protection, and promoted the economic and social development and prosperity in the region.