UN General Assembly
1983

44. We wish to stress at this time the reception given to the Chilean initiative on the creation of a Latin American space agency. Such a body would permit joint exploitation of the benefits of space science by the member countries, thus making a decisive contribution to their economic, social and cultural development. 45. The signing of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea represents the culmination of long years of effort and negotiation. It is the definitive sanctioning of the concept of an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles, an idea which was originally introduced by my country in 1947. 46. The Chilean Government welcomes the fact that more than 120 Member States have already signed this Convention, and it calls upon those which have not yet done so to give their support to this important instrument of modern international law, the result of the good will displayed by the international community in the process of negotiations.