Welcome Message Y.B. Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas Minister Natural Resources and Environment (NRE), Malaysia And Patron, Map Asia 2008 With great pleasure and anticipation, I look forward to Map Asia 2008, the Seventh Annual Asian Conference and Exhibition on Geospatial Technology and Applications, being held on 18-20 August in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference theme, “Spatially Enabled Government” is most suitable considering how technology is slowly and steadily transforming the functioning of the government agencies in the Asia-Pacific region. Map Asia will provide an excellent platform for promotion of the contribution and capabilities of mapping and geospatial technologies towards addressing some of the critical issues of governance. Furthermore, it will be a great occasion for interaction, discussion, networking and domain information sharing for the industry professionals, academia and the government agencies from various countries around the world of the latest geospatial technology and application trends. I, therefore, take this opportunity to invite participants from all walks of life and especially the Malaysian government and industry leaders to Map Asia 2008 to engage in fruitful discussions with the stalwarts of the global geospatial industry on initiatives that will help propel the geospatial industry onto a higher and a more desirable level in the whole of Asia. I welcome you all to participate and wish Map Asia 2008 the very best of success. Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas