The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency, opened an Asia-Pacific regional sub-office in Beijing on Thursday.

The sub-office, the first of its kind, will be responsible for the region’s airspace organization and management, aiming to increase the efficiency of airspace utilization in the region.

ICAO’s Asia-Pacific office is based in Bangkok.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that Beijing was chosen as the location of the sub-office from a pool of city candidates, including Seoul, Singapore and New Delhi.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen rapid growth in the civil aviation industry. The ICAO estimated that the passenger transport growth in the Asia-Pacific region will nearly double that of North America in the next decade.