Representatives from 17 RCA Member States met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for promoting peaceful nuclear technology cooperation in Asia and the Pacific region. The27th Meeting of National RCA Representatives (NRM), jointly organized by IAEA and MINT (Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research), was opened by Dato’ Kong Chu Hua, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation on 4 April 2005 for 5 days at the Grand Plaza Park Royal Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

On behalf of the IAEA, Prof. Dr Ana Maria Cetto, Deputy Director General for Technical Cooperation (DDG-TC) congratulated the Meeting. The IAEA DDG-TC noted with satisfaction that RCA has been endeavoring to increase of RCA ownerships by the Member States and one of the significant progresses was the establishment of the RCA Regional Office in the region. Representatives of RCA Member States and RCA Regional Office together with IAEA discuss how nuclear technologies can contribute to the socio-economic development of the region, in particular to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Based on this spirit, the Meeting reviewed 2007-08 RCA projects in the thematic sectors of agriculture, human health, industry, the environment, radiation safety, energy planning, research reactor utilization and so on.

The Meeting also agreed to exhibit RCA potentials and past achievements to the best extent in an effort to increase better awareness of RCA and to promote RCA partnerships. This mandate has been given to RCARO. Meanwhile, in conjunction with the 27th RCA NRM, a scientific forum was arranged with the theme of ‘Fusion of Knowledge for Sustainable Development’.