Beginning this afternoon its general exchange of views, the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space heard India's Ambassador Y.M. Tiwari, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, urge that space projects should contribute to developing countries' potential and resources.

He also called for increased focus on the problem of potential collisions of nuclear-powered space objects with space debris and called for a comprehensive review of the management of emergencies that could be created when nuclear power sources employed in space systems accidentally re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and impact on its surface.

Developing countries were also concerned about the high cost of remote sensing, which had valuable applications such as weather forecasting and assessment of water resources, he added.

International space activity was changing, Finland's Minister of Trade and Industry, Erkki Tuomioja, said, on behalf of the European Union and associated States.

Space projects were now moving to more practical applications for commercial markets. The new setting was oriented on space as an instrument for solving the problems of modern societies in the fields of information, knowledge, mobility, the environment and the management of natural resources.

The Union attached great importance to space-related education and training, as developing countries, in particular, could not make full use of space technology without enhancing their national capabilities and expertise.

The two-week Vienna Conference, which is to conclude on 30 July, is bringing together representatives of governments, the space industry and civil society to focus on "Space Benefits for Humanity in the Twenty-First Century", and to adopt a "Vienna Declaration and Action Plan", a practical framework for the global society to maximize the benefits of space technology through international cooperation in space activities.

Also this afternoon, the Conference heard a statement by the Chairman of its Technical Forum. The Forum is designed to foster discussion of a variety of issues through seminars, workshops and panels.

It is to concentrate on the status of the scientific knowledge of earth and its environment; the status and applications of space science and technology; the benefits of basic space science and capacity building; information needs and the global approach; economic and societal benefits; and the promotion of international cooperation.

Forum Chairman Peter Jankowitsch (Austria) said in his opening statement that the challenge of UNISPACE III is to transcend political boundaries and work together to apply space science and technology for the benefit of all Earth's inhabitants. The previous UNISPACE conferences took place during the Cold War, but UNISPACE III was not shadowed by those tensions.

The Technical Forum is to consist of 38 activities, continuing through Tuesday, 27 July, and covering most of the Conference's agenda items.

Also addressing the Conference this afternoon were;

• Carlos Gonzalez-Bueno, Vice-Minister of Industry and Energy of Spain
• Ludwig Baumgarten, Assistant Secretary of State, Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany
• Valentino Martelli, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
• Kun-Ho Cho, Vice-Minister of Science and Technology of the Republic of Korea
• Jeno Manniniger, President of the Hungarian Space Board and Political State Secretary
• En-Jei Luan, Administrator of the China National Space Administration
• Benita Ferrero-Waldner, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Austria
• David Leadbeater, British National Space Centre
• K. Kasturirangan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization
• and Vassilis Cassapoglou, Executive Director of the Greek Centre for Space Science and Technology
• The representatives of Japan and France also spoke