Philippines, UAE eye space cooperation deal

The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are working towards sealing an agreement on space cooperation.

This comes after Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) Director General Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. and UAE Space Agency Director General Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi met on October 27 on the sidelines of the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Dubai.

During the meeting, the two sides pledged to work towards the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which will focus on applications of space technology in ensuring food security and mitigating natural disasters, among others, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn Quintana said in a statement.

She said the national space agencies of both countries also wanted to inspire Filipino and Emirati youth to seek careers in science and technology.

Marciano and Al Qubaisi had a virtual meeting on August 19 on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the UAE, the embassy said.

“The Dubai meeting is a follow-through of the first, which further solidifies the initial commitment made by both countries to work together,” it said.

The PhilSA delegation also took part in the Space Week at the Expo 2020 Dubai where Marciano was one of the panel speakers.

He was also the featured speaker at the first Embassy Bangkóta Apex Speaker Series inaugurated on October 29 at the Philippine Pavilion at the World Expo 2020.

“During the two town hall forums, Director General Marciano provided an overview of the PhilSA and the many different applications of space technology in everyday life. The audience got a chance to see a miniature replica of micro-satellite Maya-1 which was put on display at the top of the Bangkóta Pavilion,” the embassy said. — VBL, GMA News