Bilateral relations between the UAE and the Philippines takes a big leap towards space with the inaugural meeting between the two space agencies of each country.
His Excellency Ibrahim Al Qasim, Executive Director of the UAE Space Agency (UAESA), expressed keen interest in the possibilities that lie ahead with the collaborative efforts that will take place with the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) in the development of applications and space science.
“I am truly excited about the prospects of and the ambition in both space programs. I only recently started to read about the Philippine space program, but was extremely impressed. In a very short period of time, I think the space program managed to cover a lot of ground,” said Al Qasim.
The historic meeting was made possible through the efforts of the Philippine Embassy in the UAE, led by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE H.E. Amb. Hjayceelyn Quintana, who initiated the integral link to engage two young space agencies to cooperate and collaborate towards ‘limitless possibilities’ in the near future. The meeting likewise marks a symbolic progress between the relations of the two countries that celebrate its 47th year of diplomatic relations, since August 19, 1974.
“As Ambassador, I consider it a huge and distinct honor to witness and be part of this historic, inaugural meeting that has made the 47th anniversary a milestone in our relations. By forging this path of cooperation, the Philippines and the UAE are charting a new frontier in our bilateral relations which, like space, would be of limitless possibilities,” said Amb. Quintana.
Al Qasim likewise noted that the Philippines has made great strides in its space exploration efforts dating back several years even before the PhilSA was signed into law by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019.
“We are very excited about the innovative solutions that this new, young and ambitious space program will come up with. We welcome the effort, we would like to be there alongside and the Philippines support in any way possible. This meeting that happened today was truly an eye opener and I think we aligned on very similar objectives, not only on the technical aspect like I mentioned, but on strategic (aspects),” shared Al Qasim.
PhilSA Director-General Dr. Joel Marciano is optimistic that this meeting will be the first of many as both countries work together towards the goal of strengthening their ties through knowledge-sharing and platform-building for space studies and its implementation that will benefit various industries.
“PhilSA is of the view that cooperation in the field of space science and technology is another promising endeavor that both countries can pursue to strengthen our ties. Outer space is a field where our countries can collaborate at many things and work together towards the goal of promoting and benefitting from the peaceful and sustainable use of outer space with international cooperation as our platform,” said Dr. Marciano.
Al Qasim added that both space agencies aim to highlight the importance of giving the next generation the vision, drive, and ambition to charter their country’s course towards space in the future by honing and learning the importance of studying about space today.
“What Her Excellency the ambassador (Quintana) mentioned really resonated with me that this wasn’t about building spacecrafts or owning spacecraft, this is about developing a young talent pool and I think that is why we started our space program in the UAE and that to me shows the great alignment between the two space programs,” said Al Qasim.
Present during the inaugural UAE-PhilSA meeting were Consul General Marford Angeles, UAE Space Agency Engrs. Abdullah Al Marar and Hassan Al Shehhi, together with Philippine Space Agency Director-General , together with PhilSA Deputy Director General Gay Perez, and PhilSA Director Noelle Riza Castillo.
