Minutes

of the meetings to be held in the Big Blue Hall
at the Dan Eilat Hotel, Eilat, Israel
on 4 and 8 May 2009

Introduction

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Changes after the minutes have been distributed to the member associations:

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List of Minutes Items

MINUTES

1. OPENING PROCEEDINGS

President Stig Enemark opened the 32nd General Assembly and welcomed the members and delegates to Eilat, Israel.

Noted that several greetings and apologies were received from member associations, other members, Honorary Presidents Dr. Juha Talvitie and Prof. Holger Magel and several Honorary Members who were no able to attend the General Assembly this time. Apologies were also recorded from Vice Presidents Dr. Dalal S. Alnaggar and Mr. Teo CheeHai who were also unable to participate.

2. ROLL CALL

Vice President Matt Higgins took the roll call. The roll call was made only for member associations and affiliate members. Delegates representing academic members, corporate members and correspondents as well as honorary presidents and honorary members were entered in the records based on their registrations to Mr. John Neel, the new General Manager of FIG at the meeting venue.

Recorded that based on the decision of the General Assembly in 2006 only those member associations that had paid all their membership fees to the end of 2008 are allowed to vote at the meeting. A list of member associations that are not allowed to vote was published on the FIG web site as per 30 April 2009.

Appendix to items 2 & 25: Roll Call (139 kB)

37 member associations out of 99 were present at this session, which is more than one third of the membership needed for the General Assembly to be constitutionally valid. 35 member associations were allowed to vote.

Motion: That present members are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

3. APPOINTMENT OF TELLERS

Motion: The General Assembly shall appoint two persons as tellers following the principle adopted at the 22nd General Assembly so that the tellers will represent member associations hosting the preceding (the Swedish Association of Chartered Surveyors, SLF – from 1.1.2009 ASPECT – Association for Chartered Surveying, Property Evaluation and Transactions) and the current General Assembly (the Association of Licensed Surveyors in Israel, ALSI). That the General Assembly appoints Ms. Cecilia Lindén from ASPECT and Mr. Yoav Tal from ALSI as a teller for the two sessions of the General Assembly.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

4. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

Motion: That the agenda be adopted.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

5. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE 30th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Minutes have been circulated previously. The Council did not have any follow-up issues rising from the minutes that needed to be discussed with the General Assembly. The members had neither raised any issues on the minutes prior the meeting.

Appendix to item 5: Minutes of the General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden, June 2008

Minutes of the General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden, June 2008 without appendices, pdf-format. (171 kB)

Motion: That the minutes be adopted as recorded.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

6. MEMBERSHIP

6.1 Acceptance of new members

6.1.1 Association des Géomètres Experts du Niger (AGEN)

Association des Géomètres Experts du Niger (AGEN) (Association of Niger Surveyors) has submitted an application to become a member association of FIG from Niger. The association has been constituted in January 2006 by a law on the order of surveyors. The association has currently 50 members. The application meets the criteria for membership in FIG as a member association. The Council has considered the application and believes that the association meets criteria for membership of FIG as a member association.

Appendix to item 6.1.1: Membership application from the Association des Géomètres Experts du Niger (AGEN) (710 kb)

Motion: That the General Assembly admits the Association des Géomètres Experts du Niger (AGEN) to become a member association of FIG.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

6.2 Other membership issues

Affiliates

Nepal was expelled from FIG affiliate membership in Stockholm because of unpaid membership fees. After the meeting Survey Department, Government of Nepal wanted to restore the membership after changes in the structure of the Nepalese government and has paid most of the arrears. The Council has therefore restored the affiliate membership the Survey Department, Government of Nepal.

After this change the number of affiliate members is 28.

Corporate members

The Council has admitted the following three companies to become a Corporate Member of FIG:

• Magellan Navigation, USA (Corporate level C)
• REIDIN.com, United Arab Emirates (Corporate level F)
• ORBITS Engineering Firm, Saudi Arabia (Corporate level F)

The number of corporate members is now 36.

Academic members

The Council has admitted the following six universities and institutions to become an academic member:

• Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
• School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
• Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine Authority
• National Research Institute of Astronomy & Geophysics, Egypt
• Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Mapping and Geo-Information Engineering, Israel
• Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Topography Department of the Civil Engineer Institute, Mexico

The Council has decided to expel following academic members because their membership fees are more than two years in arrears. This list has been updated based on the payments and information given during the General Assembly.

• Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Faculty of Agronomy, Guatemala
• Ferris State University, Surveying Engineering, USA

The number of Academic Members after these changes is 83.

Motion: That the General Assembly notes the actions that the Council has taken with other membership matters.

Decision: The motion was adopted. Dr. Yerach Doytsher from Israel Institute of Technology, Mapping and Geo-Information Engineering was given the membership certificate for Technion, Israel.

7. PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The President has prepared a report on the activities of the President and the Council between the General Assembly in Stockholm and Eilat.

The President gave a presentation on the Role of FIG in contribution to professional development and the global agenda. This presentation is available on the FIG web site as a PowerPoint presentation for members to use in explaining the role of FIG to their members and partners. The presentation can be downloaded from: www.fig.net/admin/images/fig_general_president_may_2009.ppt.

Appendix to item 7: President’s report (116 kB)
Appendix to minutes’ item 7: Role of FIG in contribution to professional development and the global agenda. Handouts of the presentation given by President Stig Enemark (1.5 MB)
Appendix to minutes’ item 7: Role of FIG in contribution to professional development and the global agenda. Powerpoint presentation for the use of members to be used for explaining the FIG and its role for their members (6.5 MB)

Motion: That the General Assembly accepts the President’s report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

8. CHANGES IN THE FIG COUNCIL AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS

The General Assembly elected Mr. Iain Greenway from United Kingdom and Mr. Teo CheeHai for a Vice President of FIG for 2009-2012. At the same time the term of office of Mr. Ken Allred from Canada and Prof. Paul van der Molen from the Netherlands finished at the end of 2008.

The Council has agreed on responsibilities of the Council members after the new Vice Presidents Teo CheeHai and Iain Greenway took the office 1 January 2009. The revised list of responsibilities responds to the professional qualifications of the Council members as well as to their regional distribution.

Appendix to item 8: Responsibilities of Council members 2009-2010 (92 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly records it thanks to Mr. Ken Allred and Prof. Paul van der Molen for the services that they have provided for the Federation over many years as Council members. That the General Assembly further records the new Vice Presidents and records that they have received their FIG officer badge at the Council meeting in February 2009. That the General Assembly further endorses the list of responsibilities for the Council members for 2009-2010.

Decision: The motion was adopted. The General Assembly also expressed its thanks with acclamation to Mr. Ken Allred and Prof. Paul van der Molen who was present at the meeting.

9. HONORARY MEMBER

The Canadian Institute of Geomatics has proposed to the Council that Mr. Ken Allred would be awarded with the Honorary Membership of FIG. Ken Allred is an immediate past Vice President of FIG (2005-2008) and has been active in FIG for more than 25 years. In addition following contributions from Ken Allred to FIG should be mentioned:

• Commission 1 Chair 1994-1998 and Vice Chair 1990 – 1994
• Canadian delegate on FIG Commission 1 - Professional Practice from 1981 until 2005
• Member of the organizing committee for the FIG Symposium on the Decision Maker and LIS in Edmonton in 1984
• Member on the FIG Task Forces on the Exchange of Surveying Personnel; on Constituting Professional Associations; and on Cultures and Languages
• Chair of the Task Force on FIG Governance Structure
• Director of the FIG Foundation (2005-2008)
• regular attendee at FIG congresses since 1977 to which he has presented numerous papers and participated in various workshops.

Appendix to item 9: The nomination letter from the Canadian Institute of Geomatics and CV of Mr. Ken Allred  (127 kB and 31 kB)

According to the Statutes paragraph 3.1.7 "an individual who has materially assisted the development and promotion of the surveying profession at the international level can be appointed as an honorary member. Nomination for this appointment shall be made by a member association or the Council, which will consider it and submit it to a vote of the General Assembly."

The Council has considered the proposal and decided to propose to the General Assembly that it appoints Mr. Ken Allred as an Honorary Member of the Federation for the outstanding services he has provided to the Federation in different positions and functions.

Mr. Daniel Roberge made a presentation on the appointment to the General Assembly on behalf of CIG.

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints Mr. Ken Allred an Honorary Member of FIG.

Decision: The General Assembly appointed Mr. Ken Allred as an Honorary Member of FIG with acclamation. Mr. Allred will be presented his badge with silver oak leaves and certificate of Honorary Membership by the CIG in Canada.

10. ELECTION OF COMMISSION CHAIR ELECT FOR COMMISSION 8 AND 10 FOR 2009-2010

According to the FIG Statutes and Internal Rules the General Assembly appoints Commission Chairs Elect at its meeting two years prior to the Congress. These Chairs Elect will then automatically become Chairs of the Commissions for the next term of office. At the meeting in Stockholm all other Chairs Elect were appointed except Commission 8 and 10.

The Council has asked for nominations for candidates to these two commissions. For Commission 8 two nominations were received:

• Mr. Wafula Nabutola, Kenya (ISK)
• Dr. Richard Sliuzas, the Netherlands (GIN)

Appendix to item 10 and 22: Nomination templates of candidates to Commission 8 Chairs Elect for 2009-2010:

• Mr. Wafula Nabutola, Kenya (ISK) (96 kB)
  • Handouts of PowerPoint presentation (123 kB)
• Dr. Richard Sliuzas, the Netherlands (GIN) (93 kB)
  • Handouts of PowerPoint presentation (848 kB)

The Council has evaluated the nominations and considers that both candidates are well qualified to chair Commission 8 in the future and thus decided to propose to the General Assembly that it makes the election between these two candidates.

At the first session of the General Assembly Prof. Paul van der Molen, GIN introduced Dr. Sliuzas and Mr. Mwenda Makathima, Chairman of ISK introduced Mr. Nabutola for the General Assembly. The election will take place at the end of the first session of the General Assembly.

As there are no nominations for Commission 10, the Council has decided that it will propose to the General Assembly in Sydney that Commission 10 will be terminated unless there will be a candidate by the end December 2009. In the case that Commission 10 will be closed, its activities will be moved to appropriate Commission(s) as to be agreed with ACCO and decided by the General Assembly.

Motion: That the General Assembly notes the presentations and decides to make the election at the end of the first session of the General Assembly on the 4th May 2009.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

11. REPORTS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF PERMANENT INSTITUTIONS

11.1 International Office of Cadastre and Land Records (Office International du Cadastre et du Régime Foncier) OICRF

Prof. Paul van der Molen, Director of OICRF has prepared a report on the OICRF activities since the General Assembly in Stockholm. He made a short subsequent oral report at the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 11.1: Report from the International Office of Cadastre and Land Records (Office International du Cadastre et du Régime Foncier) OICRF (145 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the report and records its thanks to the Director and the members of the permanent institution for their past year’s work.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

11.2 International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement, Permanent Institution of FIG

Mr. Jan de Graeve, President of the IIHSM and Mr. Jim Smith, Secretary of IIHSM have prepared a report on the IIHSM activities since the General Assembly in Stockholm.

An FIG Publication on the IIHMS and its achievements is under preparation and is expected to be launched during 2009.

Appendix to item 11.2: Report from the International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement, Permanent Institution of FIG (93 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the report and records its thanks to the Director and the members of the permanent institution for their past year’s work.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

12. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIG FOUNDATION

Mr. John Hohol, President of the FIG Foundation has prepared a report on the FIG Foundation activities from June 2008 to February 2009. He made a subsequent oral report at the General Assembly focussing on the grants and new scholarship programme of the FIG Foundation.

The FIG Council has appointed Mr. Warwick Watkins from Australia as a new Director in the Board of Directors for 2009-2010 after Ken Allred’s term of office in the Council and in the Board was concluded at the end of 2008. The new Council representative in the Board of Directors is Vice President Iain Greenway.

Appendix to item 12: Report of the FIG Foundation activities June 2008 – February 2009 (186 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the report of the President of the FIG Foundation and records its thanks to the President and members of the Board of Directors of the FIG Foundation for their past year’s work. That the General Assembly records its thanks to Ken Allred as Director in the FIG Foundation and endorses the appointment of Warwick Watkins as new Director for 2009-2010.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

13. REPORTS OF CURRENT TASK FORCES

At the moment FIG has two Task Forces: 1) Institutional and Organisational Development, chaired by Iain Greenway; and 2) Developing Global Land Tools for Pro Poor Land Management, chaired by Paul van der Molen (including the FIG/UN-HABITAT co-operation in Global Land Tool Network and developing Social Tenure Domain Model).

Iain Greenway has prepared a report on the progress of the Task Force on Institutional and Organisational Development. He made an oral presentation at the meeting.

Appendix to item 13: Report on the Task Force on Institutional and Organisational Development (128 kB)
Appendix to minutes’ item 13: Handouts of Iain Greenway’s presentation on the Task Force on Institutional and Organisational Development (130 kB)

The tasks of the Task Force on Developing Global Land Tools for Pro Poor Land Management (www.fig.net/tf/landtools/index.htm) have in fact been taken over by the President because of change in the policies of UN-HABITAT. The FIG activities with UN-HABITAT are now concentrated in the Global Land Tool Network where President Enemark is representing FIG in the International Advisory Board and in the project on Social Tenure Domain Model. The President reports on these under agenda item Co-operation with the United Nations.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the reports and its thanks to the Chairs of the Task Forces and their members.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

14. NEW TASK FORCE ON SPATIALLY ENABLED SOCIETIES

The Council has decided in February 2009 to establish a new short term Task Force with the aim to explore the issue of Spatially Enabled Societies (SES) from a cadastral and surveyor’s point of view. Dr. Daniel Steudler from Switzerland has been appointed to chair this task force with following members: Dr. Abbas Rajabifard (President elect of GSDI), Kari Strande (Norway), and Teo CheeHai (Vice President, Malaysia). The results of the Task Force will be published in a report that will be launched at the FIG Congress 2010.

Dr. Daniel Steudler presented the task force at the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 14: Terms of Reference for the FIG Task Force on Spatially Enabled Societies (131 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the establishment of the FIG Task Force on Spatially Enabled Societies and endorses its terms of reference.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15. NEW FIG AFRICA TASK FORCE 2009-2014

The Council established in February 2009 a new FIG Africa Task Force for the term of office 2009-2014. The Task Force focus is on the African Surveying Profession and how it can best contribute to meet the key challenges of poverty alleviation, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. The key purpose is to enable the surveying profession in Sub Saharan Africa to deal with social responsibility in terms of contributing to achieving the MDGs. The Council appointed Dr. Diane Dumashie, current Chair of FIG Commission 8, United Kingdom, to chair this Task Force. Members of the Task Force will include key persons anticipated to be representatives from East, South, Central and Western African countries.

Dr. Diane Dumashie made a presentation on the Africa Task Force for the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 15: Terms of Reference for the FIG Africa Task Force (100 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the establishment of the FIG Africa Task Force for 2009-2014 and endorses its terms of reference.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

16. YOUNG SURVEYORS NETWORK

The Young Surveyors Working Group under Commission 1 has made a good progress and achieved great results at the Working Week in Stockholm in June 2008 including special programme for students and young surveyors and speed mentoring. Some of these activities were proposed to be included as permanent components in future FIG events. The Council decided in February 2009 to give the Young Surveyors Working Group a more visible role on the FIG agenda and therefore established the Young Surveyors Network. The Network would give the group more independency and recognises its cross commission nature. Formally the Network will stay as a working group under Commission 1 in the same way as the Standards Network has today. The Council also recognised that to develop the work of the Young Surveyors Network to more professional and consistent level some financial support will be needed. This can be partly arranged through the proposed special reserves in the budget, but it is equally important to get the member associations to understand their role and responsibility in this respect.

Appendix to item 16: Terms of Reference of the Young Surveyors Network (151 kB)
Appendix to minutes’ item 16: Handouts of Cecilia Lindén’s presentation on the Young Surveyors Network (424 kB)

Ms. Cecilia Lindén as chair of the Young Surveyors Network made a presentation on the network activities for the General Assembly. The President expressed his wish to the member associations that they support young surveyors to participate the network and also to appoint young surveyors in the board of national associations.

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the establishment of the Young Surveyors Network and endorses its terms of reference and the appointment of Ms. Cecilia Lindén from Sweden as the chair of the Network until the end of 2010.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

17. CO-OPERATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE WORLD BANK

As part of the Work Plan 2007-2010 the Council has established the UN Liaison Committee – FIG Responses to the Millennium Development Goals to coordinate co-operation with the United Nations and the World Bank. The Liaison Committee is chaired by the President. The Council appointed in February 2009 Prof. Paul van der Molen, the Netherlands, as the FIG Liaison Ambassador for the United Nations for 2009-2010.

President and the Liaison Committee have prepared a report on the co-operation between FIG and the United Nations including the World Bank since the General Assembly in Stockholm.

The main issues in the co-operation with the United Nations and the World Bank during this period have been:

• Attendance to the 4th World Urban Forum organised by UN-HABITAT in Nanjing, China, 4-8 November 2008 including the meetings of the Global Land Tools Network
• Co-operation with UN FAO including the joint FIG/FAO/CNG International Symposium in Verona, Italy, 9-10 September 2008
• The Joint FIG/World Bank International Conference on Land Governance in Support of the Millennium Development Goals: Responding to New Challenges, Washington DC, USA, 9-10 March 2009
• Participation to the work of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG)

Appendix to item 17: Report on the co-operation between FIG and the United Nations and the World Bank (144 kB)

President Stig Enemark made a presentation on the United Nations activities to the General Assembly.

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the report on the co-operation between FIG and the United Nations, its agencies and the World Bank and records its thanks to the members of the Liaison Committee and all those who have contributed to this co-operation.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

18. LIAISON WITH INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS

The Joint Board of Spatial Information Societies JB-GIS was formally established during the FIG Working Week in Cairo in 2005 and meets annually during a major conference. The meeting of JB-GIS in 2008 was held in conjunction to the XXI ISPRS Congress in Beijing, China in July 2008. The meeting included some fruitful information on current activities and discussions on future cooperation and collaboration between the organisations. A key issue was development of the Geographic Information Knowledge Network (GIK Network) that is a huge common project led by GSDI to serve the global geographic information community at large. The goal of this facility is to enhance communications and sharing among geospatial specialists and organisations from all nations. Another key project is about establishing an ad hoc committee on Risk and Disaster Management.

FIG has further bilateral agreements of co-operation with several other international associations like ISM, IFHP, CIB, ION, ICEC, FIABCI and IFHS. Some of the partners are also working together in the Habitat Professionals Forum. President Stig Enemark has been acting as Chairperson of the Habitat Professionals Forum until the end of 2008 when the chairmanship was moved over to the President of IFHP.

FIG is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and working together with ISO and International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC) on standards.

President Stig Enemark made a presentation on the co-operation with partner professional associations welcoming partner association representatives to the Working Week: President Orhan Altan, ISPRS, President Bas Kok, GSDI and President Henning Elmstroem, CLGE.

Motion: That the General Assembly confirms the report on the liaison with other international associations.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

19. CHANGES TO THE FIG INTERNAL RULES

The FIG General Assembly endorsed the FIG Statutes and Internal Rules in Stockholm in June 2008. After the meeting geosuisse from Switzerland has sent the Council a letter proposing two changes to the FIG internal rules related to nominations for elections. These proposals are: 1) Candidate shall decide clearly for which function he/she will apply and to omit multiple choice applications; 2) Same association should not lead more than one commission at the same time.

The Council has considered these proposals and decided to propose to the General Assembly to add a new Internal Rule 9.4 § and to change Internal Rules 11.4 § and 11.8 § that take into account the proposals of geosuisse. In addition to the geosuisse’s proposal the Council decision includes a change into the Internal Rules so that it will not be possible for a current Commission Chair or Chair Elect to stand up as a candidate for the Council or other position in the Federation so that the terms of office would overlap.

Appendix to item 19: Changes to Internal Rules (96 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly approves the proposed new Internal Rule 9.4§ and proposed changes to Internal Rules 11.4 § and 11.8 §.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

20. FIG ACCOUNTS FOR 2008 AND AUDITOR’S REPORT, AND BUDGET FOR 2009, 2010 AND 2011

Vice President Iain Greenway and General Manager John Neel have prepared a report on the FIG Financial Issues. Iain Greenway will present the report to the General Assembly. This report includes summary of 2008 accounts, an updated budget for 2009 and proposals for budgets 2010-11 with notes.

The Auditors Report includes the auditors report from 2008, official accounts (income statement 2008) and balance sheet 31 December 2008.

Appendix to item 20: Report on Financial Issues (including 2008 accounts and budgets 2009-2011) (148 kB)
Annexes:

• 20A: Auditor's Report, Income Statement for 2008 and Balance Sheet at 31 December 2008 (57 kB)
• 20B: Financial reporting template (99 kB)
• 20C: FIG Budgets 2009-2011 (91 kB)
• 20D: List of member associations whose membership fees are in arrears for 2008 and earlier and that are not allowed to vote, to be published 20 April 2009.

Appendix to minutes’ item 20: Handouts of Iain Greenway’s presentation on finances (1.3 MB)

In the discussion Mr. Steven Nystrom (Appraisal Institute, USA) expressed thanks to Iain Greenway for the finances and improved reporting system. He asked about the impact of the finance crises on the FIG finances in 2009. Iain Greenway confirmed that the arrears at the end of April are lower than in 2008.

Mr. Steve Jackson (ICES, United Kingdom) asked about the investment policies. It was confirmed that all investments are in cash deposits using Euro and Danish crone.

Mr. Michael Doran (RICS, United Kingdom) asked about the principles in determining bad year in subscription terms. Iain Greenway explained that the Council will consider this carefully and this is why the review will be made biennial basis.

Honorary President Robert Foster, USA expressed his thanks on the improved finance situation and reporting and raised the issue whether an internal auditing system from the General Assembly could be considered. The Council will consider this when it discusses the finance reporting system next time. At the time the official auditing system has been considered to be sufficient together with the reporting on the reserves to the General Assembly.

Motion: That the General Assembly approves following motions from the finance report:

• changes to the financial reporting template, presented as Annex 20B
• creation of general and specific reserves for FIG, as described in section 5 of the finance report (including commission reserves; office development activities; support for very poor member associations; support for Task Forces; and activities with young surveyors
• that the General Reserve will be managed by the Council in the range 90-100% of regular annual expenditure, and that Council will review this range every two years (when agreeing the work plan for each new Council, and at the mid-term review of the work plan.

That the General Assembly adopts the audited accounts for 2008 and budgets for 2009–2011.

Decision: The General Assembly adopted

1. the audited accounts for 2008 as presented;
2. changes to financial reporting template;
3. creation of general and specific reserves for FIG and their management as proposed; and
4. budgets for 2009-2011 as proposed (after confirmation of subscription rates).

21. SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR 2010

The General Assembly has to set levels of fees for member associations two years in advance of the year in which they become payable. Fees are payable in respect of each individual member up to a maximum of 4,000 members; member associations with more than 4,000 members are paying fees in accordance with a sliding scale. Membership fees have been discussed as part of the finance report, appendix to item 20.

The 2008 General Assembly approved membership fees for 2010 as follows:

Presidents’ Meeting, Friday 8 May, 9:00-11:00,
Tarshish Hall, Dan Eilat Hotel

24. PRESIDENTS' MEETING

Totally 36 people attended this Presidents’ Meeting out of which 28 were Presidents or leaders of delegations. At the meeting relations between member associations and FIG were discussed as well as experiences from the FIG Working Week 2009. A separate memorandum of this meeting is circulated to the participants of the meeting and to the Presidents of member associations.

Appendix to item 24: Invitation to Presidents of FIG member associations (70 kB)
Appendix to minutes' item 24: Memo of the Presidents' meeting (189 kB)

Second Session, Friday 8 May, 11:30 - 12:30
Big Blue Hall, Dan Eilat Hotel

25. ROLL CALL

Vice President Matt Higgins took the roll call. The roll call was made only for member associations and affiliate members. To shorten the roll call it was made based on the list of attendees from the first session of the General Assembly. Delegates representing academic members, corporate members and correspondents as well as honorary presidents and honorary members were entered in the records based on their registrations to John Neel, the new General Manager of FIG at the meeting venue.

Recorded that based on the decision of the General Assembly in 2006 only those member associations that had paid all their membership fees to the end of 2008 are allowed to vote at the meeting. A list of member associations that are not allowed to vote was published on the FIG web site as per 30 April 2009.

30 member associations out of 99 were present at this session.

Noted that the General Assembly has appointed Ms. Cecilia Lindén from ASPECT, Sweden and Mr. Yoav Tal from ALSI, Israel as tellers to this session of the General Assembly.

Appendix to items 2 & 25: Roll Call (139 kB)

Motion: That present members are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

26. MEMBERSHIP

The Council wants to inform the General Assembly that the list of academic members has been updated based on the information received during the week and on onsite payments. The changes have been included in the minutes.

Motion: That the General Assembly notes the situation with membership issues.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

27. REPORTS ON CO-OPERATION WITH THE FIG CORPORATE MEMBERS, FIG FOUNDATION AND YOUNG SURVEYORS NETWORK

Co-operation with the FIG Corporate Members

A traditional meeting for FIG Corporate Members was held on Wednesday 6 May. At the meeting the continuous support from the corporate members was recorded. A proposal to create a more flexible partnership model for the corporate members has been discussed and is under preparation. This will include more tailor-made and longer term options as well as increased benefits especially to platinum level corporate members.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report and records its thanks to Peter Normann Hansen, FIG Ambassador for Corporate Members.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

FIG Foundation

President John Hohol, FIG Foundation reported on the Foundation meeting and introduced the first two scholarships that the Foundation had given to attend the Working Week in Eilat. These were given to Mr. Habtemicael Weldegiorgis, Eritrea who also made a short speech at the meeting and to Dr. Jayanta Kumar Ghosh from India.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

Young Surveyors Network

Chair Cecilia Lindén, Young Surveyors Network, made a presentation on the activities of the Young Surveyors Network.

Appendix to minutes’ item 27: Handouts of Cecilia Lindén’s presentation on the Young Surveyors Network (444 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

28. DECISION ON THE VENUE OF THE FIG WORKING WEEK 2013

According to the statutes the venue of the FIG Working Weeks and Congresses will be decided four years prior the event. For hosting the FIG Working Week 2013 the only bid received was made by the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS). NIS proposes to organise the FIG Working Week 2013 in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. FIG General Assembly has been organised earlier in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1976, when the PC Meeting was for the first time held in Africa.

In the NIS’s bid it is stated that NIS shall be hosting the Working Week in co-operation with all FIG accredited member organisations in Nigeria. All the relevant Federal Government of Nigeria Ministries/Para-statals such as Presidency, Foreign Affairs, Transport, Housing, Tourism, Federal Capital Territory, Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, Surveyors Council of Nigeria, Oil & Gas Multinational Companies, etc. are to partake in sponsoring the Working Week.

The Council has considered the proposal and made the conclusion the NIS is well prepared and able to host the Working Week. It is also on of the most active member associations to attend and contribute to the FIG conferences. The Council further stated that meeting and other facilities in Abuja will satisfy the needs of FIG and its meeting requirements. The Council however stated the NIS’s bid requires some clarifications so that it will fit to the concept of FIG Working Weeks, and guarantees right split of responsibilities between FIG and NIS. The Council is working on these open issues, so that a preliminary agreement on the arrangements can be signed in Eilat before the final decision will be made by the General Assembly.

Mr. Alabo C. D. Charles, NIS Vice President for International Affairs will make the presentation on behalf of NIS at the meeting.

Appendix to item 28: Bid from Nigerian Institution of Surveyors to host FIG Working Week 2013 (645 kB)
Appendix to minutes’ item 28: Handouts of Mr. Alabo D. C. Charles’s presentation on the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors bid to host FIG Working Week 2013 (7.5 MB)

Motion: That the General Assembly decides to adopt the bid from the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors to host the Working Week 2013 jointly with FIG in Abuja, Nigeria.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

29. 7th FIG REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN HANOI, VIETNAM, 19-22 OCTOBER 2009

The 7th FIG Regional Conference will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam 19-22 October 2009. It will be organised jointly by the Viet Nam Association of Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and FIG. Representatives of VGCR will give the General Assembly a report on the arrangements of the Regional Conference. The conference web site: www.fig.net/vietnam.

Presentation on the 7th Regional Conference was given at the General Assembly on behalf of VGCR.

Appendix to minutes’ item 29: Handouts of presentation on the 7th FIG Regional Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, 19-22 October 2009 (236 kB)

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report for information.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

30. REPORT THE CONGRESS 2010 IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 11-16 APRIL 2010

Mr. Warwick Watkins, Surveyor General of New South Wales gave the General Assembly a report on the preparations of the next FIG Congress to be held in Sydney, Australia, 11-16 April 2010. Conference web site: www.fig2010.com.

Appendix to minutes’ item 30: Handouts of Warwick Watkins’s presentation on FIG 2010 in Sydney, Australia, 11-16 April 2010 (3.3 MB)

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report for information.

Decision: The motion was adopted. The President thanked Warwick Watkins for the presentation and welcomed all members to Sydney for the spectacular venue and congress.

31. PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

President Stig Enemark presented at the closing ceremony certificates of appreciation to members of the local organising committee of the XXXII FIG General Assembly and FIG Working Week 2009 and to other persons that had actively participated in the arrangements of the successful Working Week. Special thanks were recorded to the Association of Land Surveyors in Israel, ALSI and its President Joseph Kraus and to Survey of Israel and its Director General Dr. Haim Srebro, Congress Director FIG Working Week 2009.

CLOSING CEREMONY

The President formally closed the 32nd General Assembly of FIG.

At the closing ceremony the FIG banner was handed over by Mr. Joseph Kraus, President of ALSI and Dr. Haim Srebro, Conference Director to Mr. Warwick Watkins and Mr. Craig Sandy from the Organising Committee of FIG Congress 2010. The FIG Congress 2010 will be held in Sydney, Australia 11-16 April 2010.

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