Countries Hope To Better Promote And Organize Cooperative Activities

Japan and Canada held the first Joint Meeting on Space Cooperation Wednesday. The Joint Meeting was based on the Memorandum for Promotion of Space Cooperation between Japan and Canada that was signed on the margins of Prime Minister Harper's visit and Canadian Space Agency Business Development Mission to Japan in March 2012.

The objective of the Memorandum is to promote and organize cooperative activities between the Agencies in the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, reinforce scientific and technological development, and strengthen our ties at the government, industrial and academic levels. This Memorandum provides a framework for heightened cooperation guided by clearly defined objectives.

The meeting was co-chaired by the representative of the Office of National Space Policy, Cabinet Office (ONSP), and the representative of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Main participants included representatives of ONSP, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Embassy of Japan in Canada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC), and companies from space related industry (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., IHI Corporation, IHI Aerospace Co., Ltd., Defense Systems Company Hitachi, Ltd., NEC Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Sumitomo Corporation, and Mitsubishi Corporation) The Canadian side included representatives from the Government of Canada, the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) and premier Canadian space companies including ABB, COM DEV, iDirect, Magellan, MDA, NEPTEC and TELESAT.

"Participants proposed to continue to promote space cooperation between Japan and Canada, and agreed to continue discussions for this purpose. During the meeting, under Memorandum for Promotion of Space Cooperation between Japan and Canada", JAXA and CSA signed an Implementing Arrangement concerning the Mutual Cooperation in Satellite Disaster Monitoring.

Further, both sides exchanged views on enhancing cooperation between industry, and agreed that SJAC and AIAC, as representatives of space industry in both countries, to continue discussions for building mutually beneficial business partnerships. Both sides confirmed that Japan and Canada would hold this Joint Meeting on a regular basis.

FMI: www.asc-csa.gc.ca