The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Friday that countries in the Asia-Pacific region are progressing with their plan to use space technology for social and economic development.

The proposals are backed by China and other Asian powers with space technology such as Pakistan, Thailand and South Korea.

A China's space official said the countries in the region will soon benefit from the initiatives including further reinforcement of governmental space cooperation, promotion of academic exchange in the field and offering training and education for those countries that need help.

Luo Ge, CNSA official in charge of international cooperation, said that the recommendations come from the Sixth Asia-Pacific Conference on Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Application (APC-MCSTA) held in Beijing last month.

Luo disclosed the recommendations, made public for the first time, as the following:

* To further facilitate the activities and other potential cooperation possibilities, a neutral Asia-Pacific astronautics society (appropriate name to be decided) should be established.

The society's status, functions and membership shall be agreed upon by the member countries of the APC-MCSTA, an international conference organization which currently has 16 members in the regions.

* A neutral Space Cooperation Consulting Committee consisting of space experts and professionals should be established.

The consulting committee shall be responsible for the technical review, evaluation, consulting and application promotion in the Asia-Pacific space cooperation.

* China and other members of APC-MCSTA expressed their hope to set up an Education and Training Centre of Asia-Pacific Space Science and Technology to provide better service and cooperation for those countries who need space aid.

Luo hailed the three recommendations as the biggest achievements at the September conference and the regions' countries have realized the benefits of international co-operation in the field.

"Despite political, economic and cultural diversity among the countries in the regions, they have bear in mind, a common desire of using space technology and its applications for national economic development,'' Luo said.

Luo said that even though APC-MCSTA is a regional organization, it welcomes countries from other regions to be involved in its activities.

According to Luo, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and the United Nations also attended the sixth APC-MCSTA.

Many countries and international organizations welcomed those proposals, according to Luo.

"The European Space Agency, a multi-nation organization within the European Union, is glad to see its counterpart soon to be established in Asia,'' Luo quoted an EU official as saying

(From Chinadaily 2001/10/22 ).