Geospatial experts call for sustainable development

The Third High Level Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management is taking place in Beijing from October 22-24, aiming to discuss the sustainable development with geospatial information which could contribute to world economic growth and social sustainable development.

Representatives from more than 20 international organizations and chiefs of Ministry of Land and Resources from Germany, Canada and another 18 countries are attending the forum.

It focuses on the correlation between the improvement of geospatial information services and the progress of building eco-environmental friendly cities, preventing disasters and inventing new monitoring techniques.

Kurexi Maihesuti, director general of the China Ministry of Land and Resources, said during the opening ceremony that geographic mapping and surveying have a close relation with the environment-monitoring system, which sets a comprehensive agenda on economy, society and eco-environment development for China.

Wu Hongbo, under-secretary-general of United Nations said: "The General Assembly has decided to base the further development agenda on the geospatial data, which demonstrates the sustainability of countries."

"This forum gives us a chance to exchange advanced ideas and mature experiences between different countries and we can build up a network among experts from all over the world," Kurexi said.

The forum has been held three times by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management. The previous two forums took place in South Korea and Qatar in 2011 and 2013 respectively.