It’s my great pleasure to extend an invitation to you to attend the 2nd International Symposium on Earth Observation for Arid and Semi-arid Environments (ISEO2014), which will be held at Issyk-kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan on September 10-12, 2014. ISEO2014 is co-hosted by the Institute of Physical and Technical Problems and Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic (IPTPMS, NAS, KR), and the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RADI/CAS). As a platform for Central Asian countries to exchange their experience on Earth observation, the ISEO symposium was initiated and firstly organized by RADI in 2012 in Kashgar, an ancient city on the Silk Road in western China. During the symposium, an MoU was signed and a Science Plan on Earth Observation in Central Asia was launched to strengthen the cooperation in the Central Asian regions. An international network for the science and technology cooperation has thereby been established, and as stated in its theme, the symposium did illuminate Central Asia with Earth Observation. Two years later, the second symposium will come in the beautiful Issyk-kul lake, and it will focus on various aspects of Earth Observation about development of the earth observation theory, technology, and applications in the field of environment, resource, and disaster, understanding its role in global change, strengthening scientific communication and cooperation on Earth observation. It is hoped that the ISEO2014 would provide a new opportunity to further enhance the academic research and exchange in the arid and semi-arid environmental regions, especially in the Central Asia, and more substantive international collaborative research in the priority areas could be initiated through this platform.