Forty Years Of The Coordinating Committee For Geoscience - CCOP

PREFACE
FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CCOP STEERING COMMITTEE
This year (2006) marks the 40th Anniversary of the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience
Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP). To commemorate this important event, the CCOP
Steering Committee, during the 46th Steering Committee Meeting in China, September 2005,
endorsed a proposal to publish a book on the history of CCOP. Two senior members of the CCOP
‘family’, Dr Anthony Reedman and Dr Yoshihiko Shimazaki, both CCOP Honorary Advisers, offered
to research and write the book. This saw the start of the ‘History of CCOP Project’. Fittingly, one of
the authors, Dr Shimazaki, was himself present at the actual birth of CCOP in 1966.
Exactly a year has passed since the two distinguished authors embarked on their task and now we see
the fruit of their labours with the publication of this valuable book-“A World of Difference: 40 Years
of CCOP”. We must first congratulate the authors on a job excellently and expertly done. Not only
are the facts of the forty years of our Organization’s distinguished past presented, but also included is
the human side of the history gathered from the contributions and fond memories of various members
of the CCOP ‘family’. As one of these contributors states, the call for contributions to this 40 th
anniversary publication “had upon me the same effect as opening a box full of photographs of the
past”. These photographic glimpses of the history of CCOP brought back many happy memories of
the Organization. They are the pictorial milestones of CCOP’s forty years of achievement and
progress.
The birth of CCOP in 1966 within UN-ECAFE (now UN-ESCAP), and the twenty years of UNDP
support that nurtured CCOP into a fine organization that could well stand on its own feet when it
became an Intergovernmental Organization in 1987 are all documented. The long list of projects and
activities supported by the Cooperating Countries, other donor countries and bodies and international
agencies that have brought tremendous benefits to the Member Countries are described.
An Organization is made up of people. CCOP is unique in that all those who are involved are
members of a CCOP ‘family’. The truth is that when at the CCOP’s Annual Session, whether
working together or mixing socially after work, the feeling is of a gathering of family members. We
may be from different countries, different ethnic, cultural, religious and lingual backgrounds, but we
treat each other with the greatest respect, courtesy, trust, and goodwill. It is not an exaggeration to say
that CCOP has provided a unique platform for promoting regional cooperation, building trust and
networks, and facilitating sharing and exchange of information, knowledge, and experience that are all
so vital to Member Countries to accelerate their development.
This publication on the history of CCOP is dedicated to the many people who, during the past forty
years, have contributed to create a “world of difference” for both our Organization and the
geoscientific community in the region. Here, we record our deepest appreciation to all the
constituents of CCOP, the Member Countries, the Cooperating Countries, the Cooperating
Organizations, the Advisers and all the distinguished people who represented these constituents, for
their unwavering support to CCOP. The successive Chairpersons of the Steering Committee and the
Advisory Group, together with their colleagues, have provided a clear vision, wise guidance and
charted the right course for the Organization. We also express our thanks to the Royal Thai
Government for so generously hosting the CCOP Technical Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand. We
honour all the Directors of the CCOP Technical Secretariat who, together with their staff, bear the
heavy burden of discharging all their duties and responsibilities in an equitable, unbiased and
transparent manner. These are the vital foundations upon which CCOP, as an intergovernmental
organization, is built. They must stand firm in the future as they have for the last forty years.
Let us together celebrate our past achievements on this memorable occasion and look forward to even
greater success in the future.
Dr. Ekichi Tsukuda
Director-General
Geological Survey of Japan, AIST
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