Minutes

FIG 38^th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

MINUTES

1. OPENING PROCEEDINGS

President Chryssy Potsiou opened the 38th General Assembly and welcomed all members to Sofia, Bulgaria to the current council’s first General Assembly with a short address. President Potsiou noted that the General Assembly was held in the exact same Hall in the National Palace of Culture in 1983. At this occasion the FIG Fanfare was played for the first time.   The President expressed her gratitude to members and delegates for their participation and acknowledged the efforts of Chamber of Graduate Surveyors, Bulgaria, the local organising committee towards a successful Congress with around 900 participants from approximately 70 countries.   The President expressed condolences in memory of Paul Marshall, President of the South African Council for Professional and Technical Surveyors, who has been an active participant at many FIG Events, and for the natural disasters hereunder especially the recent in Nepal and the countries around that has affected many people. The General Assembly observed a moment of silence. The president announced that there would be some activities on surveyors’ rapid response to mapping for disaster management carried out by Commissions and Young Surveyors during the Working Week.

2. ROLL CALL

Vice President Rudolf Staiger took the roll call. The roll call was done for member associations only. Since only member associations that have paid all their membership fees to the end of 2014 were allowed to vote at the meeting, a list of member associations that were not allowed to vote was published and posted on the FIG web site 15 April 2015, and updated 21 May 2015.

Appendix to items 2 & 22: Roll Call
Appendix to items 2 & 22: List of member associations that are not allowed to vote at the General Assembly because of unpaid membership fees for 2014 and earlier

51 member associations out of 102 were present at this session, which is more than one third of the membership needed for the General Assembly to be constitutionally valid.

Motion: That members present are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

3. APPOINTMENT OF TELLERS

The General Assembly appointed two persons as tellers for the entire General Assembly.  The tellers represent member association that hosted the preceding (Dr, Zaid, President of PEJUTA, Malaysia) and the host of the proceeding following General Assembly (Jeff Needham, President of NZIS, New Zealand).  

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints a representative from PEJUTA and NZIS as tellers for this General Assembly.

Decision: Dr Zaid, President of PEJUTA, Malaysia and Jeff Needham, President of NZIS, New Zealand were appointed tellers by the General Assembly.

4. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

The Agenda for the General Assembly was issued as mandated, on 17 March 2015.

Motion: That the agenda be adopted.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

5. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE 37^th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

5. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE 37th GENERAL ASSEMBLY  

Minutes have been circulated previously.

Appendix to item 5: Minutes of the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 2014, without appendices.

Motion: That the minutes be adopted as recorded.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

6. MEMBERSHIP

6.1 Member Associations

6.1.1 New Member Associations

Two new applications for member associations have arrived and have been discussed at the Council meeting who decided to bring forward the applications to the General Assembly:  

The Colombian Society of Surveyors has applied for membership. The association was established in 1963. Their total membership (all categories) is 70. Colombian Society of Surveyors fulfills the criteria of FIG Member association. Application form is attached as appendix to agenda item 6.1  

Distinctive Engineering Group, Rwanda    

The Distinctive Engineering Group, Rwanda has applied for membership. The association was established on 27 March 2015. Their total membership is 32, and the number of qualified members is 25. Distinctive Engineering Group, Rwanda fulfills the criteria of FIG member association. Application form is attached as appendix to agenda item 6.1  

Motion: That the General Assembly notes that there has not been any new member association applications.

Decision: The motion was adopted

6.1.2 College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico (MA-10069)

FIG General Assembly expelled College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico (MA-10069) at the General Assembly meeting in 2014 due to the fact that the association was in arrears for 3 years. FIG office has however later received the full payment from College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico. FIG Council therefore proposes to cancel the expulsion and note them as reinstalled as member of FIG.

Motion: That the General Assembly admits to reinstall College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico (MA-10069) as member association.

Decision/Action: The motion was adopted

6.1.3 Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (MA-10107)

At the FIG General Assembly 2014 Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (MA-10107) was supposed to be expelled from FIG but FIG Council received a letter from the association that they would pay their arrears before 1 October 2014. FIG Office received the payment and FIG Council informs the General Assembly that they will remain as member.

Motion: That FIG General Assembly notes the update of Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines (MA-10107) that they remain as member of FIG.

Decision/Action: The motion was adopted

6.2 Expulsion of member associations

Subscriptions of following member associations are more than three years in arrears:

• Ordre National des Geometres du Cameroun (MA-10015)
• Tunisian Association of Chartered Surveyors (MA-10086)

The General Assembly has power to expel from the Federation any member association whose fees are in arrears and shall under normal circumstances expel any member association whose fees are three years in arrears. (Article 4.3 of the Statutes). The FIG office has sent a letter to these associations informing that if their membership fees are still in arrears at the time of the General Assembly the General Assembly shall expel the above member associations in Sofia.

After acceptance of new member associations and expulsions the number of FIG member associations is 102 from 89 countries.

Motion: That the General Assembly expels the:

• Ordre National des Geometres du Cameroun (MA-10015)
• Tunisian Association of Chartered Surveyors (MA-10086)

Decision/Action: The motion was adopted

6.3 Suspended status 2015

In accordance with its administrative measures, FIG Council, has deferred to continue for 2015 the issuance of a membership subscription invoice to the Order of Syrian Engineers and Architects, OSEA as all efforts to maintain contact with them has not yielded results, will deem their membership in suspension giving due consideration to its internal situation. As reported in the General Assembly 2014, there remain existing sanctions on Iran. The FIG office in Denmark cannot receive payments from Iranian Professional Society of Surveying Engineers (ISS). Ukrainian Society of Geodesy and Cartography has also gained suspended status and has not been invoiced for 2014. Again in accordance with its administrative measures, FIG Council deem their membership to be in suspension. The situation with these associations will be reconsidered by Council again in 2016.

Motion: That the General Assembly notes the members with suspension status.

Decision: The motion was adopted

6.4 Other membership issues

6.4.1 Affiliate members

The Council has admitted the following national agencies to become affiliate members:

• iTaukei Land Trust Board, Fiji – AF-20051
• Geospatial Information Authority of Japan/Geodetic Department – AF-20052
• Guatemalan Registry of Cadastral Information (Registro de Información Catastral de Guatemala – RIC), AF-20053
• Land Administration Authority (LAA) Lesotho – AF-20054
• General Direction of Land Registry, Mapping and Cadastre, Benin - AF-20055

The council has expelled the following affiliate members because of unpaid membership subscriptions.

• National Land Centre in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Rwanda (AF-20016)
• Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior, USA (AF 20037)
• AIMS-Afghanistan Information Management Services, Afghanistan (AF-20038)

After these changes the number of Affiliate members is 42 from 39 countries.

6.4.2 Corporate members

The Council has admitted the following companies as Corporate Members of FIG after the General Assembly in 2014:

• Branco Etera Ltd, Kazakhstan – CM-30055 (Category F)
• NEH Engineering survey and mapping limited company, Vietnam – CM-30056 (Category E)
• Ripro Corporation, Japan – CM-30057 (Category D)
• Datalife, Nigeria - CM-30059 (Category F)

Following corporate members have resigned from their membership from 1.1.2015:

• MondoGeo (category F –regional level)

Following corporate members have been expelled by FIG Council:

• Cameroon Engineering S.A., Cameroon (CM-30027 )
• SEPRET (Société des Etudes de Projets et Réalisation des Travaux, S.A.R.L.), Morocco (CM-30031)
• Global Survey Qatar, Qatar (CM-30047)

After these changes the number of corporate members is now 21.
 

6.4.3 Academic members

FIG Council has admitted the following University to become Academic member:

• Technical University of Civil Engineering - Faculty of Geodesy, Bucharest, Romania (AC-40134)
• Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Faculty of Geomatics (AC-40135)
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Department of Geomatic Engineering, Ghana, (AC-40136)

The following academic members has terminated their membership:

• "TECRS" The Environmental Center of Remote Sensing Dept. of Geosystem Technology, Saudi Arabia (AC-40117)

The Council has expelled following universities because of unpaid membership subscriptions:

• Neapolis University, Cyprus (AC-40114) (has promised to pay)
• IAV, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco (AC-40118)

The number of Academic Members after these changes is 89 from 55 countries.

6.4.4 Correspondents

Council has ended its cooperation with two of the Correspondent Members since General Assembly 2014 and the number of correspondents is now 1.

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

Decision:The motion was adopted

7. APPOINTMENT OF HONORARY MEMBER

a. Appointment of FIG Honorary Member

Geo-Informatie Nederland GIN of the Netherlands has sent a nomination letter in which it proposes that FIG appoints Christiaan Lemmen as an Honorary Member of FIG.

FIG Council has considered the nomination and considers that it fulfils the criteria (see criteria at: http://www.fig.net/pub/figpub/pub40/figpub40.htm#Criteria) for an Honorary Member and therefore proposes to the General Assembly that it appoints Christiaan Lemmen as an Honorary Members of the Federation for the outstanding services he has provided to the Federation. Appendix to item 7: The nomination letter from Geo-Informatie Nederland GIN

b. Appointment of FIG Honorary President

The Association of Authorised Land Surveyors Malaysia, PEJUTA has sent FIG Council a proposal that it makes a nomination to the General Assembly of appointing Mr CheeHai Teo, the immediate Past President of FIG as an Honorary President of the Federation. The letter is attached as appendix to agenda item 7. FIG Concil has decided to bring forward this proposal to the General Assembly, noting that CheeHai Teo fulfills the criteria for an Honorary President and his achievements as the President have contributed the Federation to extend that he without any doubt deserves to be appointed as an FIG Honorary President.  

c. FIG Appreciation to Clarissa Augustinus UN-Habitat

Clarissa Augustinus, UN-Habitat, has worked closely with FIG for many years and is now standing down from UN-HABITAT. FIG Council would like to acknowledge the longstanding cooperation with Clarissa Augustinus. As a special consideration FIG Council has decided to appreciate her as Honorary Ambassador. Her certificate was presented to her her during the Plenary session 2 on 19 May where she was one of the plenary speakers.

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints Christiaan Lemmen as Honorary member and appoints CheeHai Teo as FIG Honorary President, and that the General Assembly notes the special appreciation to Clarissa Augustinus as FIG Honorary Ambassador.

Decision: The motion was adopted with standing ovation. Christiaan Lemmen received his silver pin and certificate with acclamation and CheeHai Teo received his gold pin together with his certificate and was honoured with a standing ovation from the delegates.

8. PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Chryssy Potsiou presented the President’s report on the activities of the Federation since the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 2014.

Appendix to item 8:

• President’s report

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

Decision: The motion was adopted

9. COUNCIL RESPONSES FROM GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2014

At the General Assembly 2014 the following items were discussed:

• Proposal from Geosuisse, Switzerland (1: nomination body; 2: VP’s nominated through regional bodies; 3: Commission Chairs Elects elected by the Commissions)
• Proposal from DdL, Denmark, on change of term for the President (to start immediately after election)
• Surveyors day/week (Presented by John Hohol at the General Assembly 2014)

FIG Council promised to get back to the General Assembly 2015 with a follow up and status on these issues.

Motion: That FIG General Assembly notes the update and records its thanks to the submitters of the proposals for their active role in FIG.

Decision/Action: President Potsiou reported that:

1. The proposal no 3 from Geosuisse will be included in the Task Force on Commission Structure. Geosuisse is withdrawing the other two proposals.
2.  Council has considered the proposal at its meetings and has decided not to take further this proposition. The reasons for this decisions are:
   1. Quality time to develop and prepare for an incoming president a four-year work plan
   2. Time to get fully updated with the work of FIG office
   3. Ensure financial rigor in order to close the year end accounts
   4. Senior leadership good practice is to have a hand over period (contested situation)
3.  Council considers that the idea of a Surveyors Day/Week as very interesting for the profession; but Council believes that the action items should be initiated and realised on a national level by its Member Associations. There will be a large variety (in terms of actions) from country to country. Therefore Council is convinced that FIG cannot be in a leading role here. However, FIG Council sees our organisation as a useful platform of exchange of ideas and information. FIG Council also suggested that the execution of a surveyors day/week will be discussed at the FIG Member Association Forum during the FIG Working Week.

The motion was adopted.

10. REPORTS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF PERMANENT INSTITUTIONS AND STANDARDS NETWORK 2014-15

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

Mr. Christiaan Lemmen, Director of OICRF has prepared a report on the OICRF activities since the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. He will make a short report to the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 10.1: Report from the International Office of Cadastre and Land Records (Office International du Cadastre et du Régime Foncier) OICRF.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

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

Mr. Jan de Graeve, Director of the IIHSM has prepared a written report on the IIHSM activities since the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. IIHSM was not present at the first General Assembly day, and referred instead to the written report, submitted in the General Assembly agenda.

Appendix to item 10.2: Report from the International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement, Permanent Institution of FIG.

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 and contribution.

Decision: The motion was adopted

10.3 Standards Network

Mr David Martin, Chair of the FIG Standards Network was unfortunately not present at the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 10.3: Report from the Standards Network. To be added

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

Decision:No report was submitted or presented at the General Assembly.

11. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIG FOUNDATION 2014-2015

Mr. John Hohol, President of the FIG Foundation has prepared a written report on the FIG Foundation activities from June 2014 to March 2015. He presented a short oral summary to the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 11:

• Report of the FIG Foundation activities 2014-2015
• Result 2014

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.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

12. FIG COUNCIL WORK PLAN 2015-2018

The Council has prepared the FIG Council Work Plan for 20151-2018. Together with the Commission Work Plans the Council Work Plan will form the FIG Work Plan for the next four years. The proposal for the Council Work Plan 2015-2018 was attached to the agenda and is based on preparations made in a Council meeting and in a meeting with the Commission Chairs during the Kick-Off Event in January 2015 in Athens, Greece as well as responses from the Kick Off Event. The Council Work Plan has also been coordinated with the Commissions', Networks', Task Forces’ and Permanent Institutions’ Work Plans.

President Potsiou presented the Work Plan at the meeting.

The Council has also decided on responsibilities of individual Council members. This list is included as an appendix to the Council Work Plan. An up-to-date list will always be available on the FIG web site.

Appendix to item 12:

• FIG Council Work Plan 2015-2018
• Presentation

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the Council Work Plan for 2015-2018.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

13. COMMISSION WORK PLANS 2015-2018

Commission Chairs have prepared their Commission Work Plan for 2015-2018 based on discussions at their Commission meetings at the FIG Congress in Kuala Lumpur. After Kuala Lumpur the Work Plans have been coordinated with the Council Work Plan and with other Commission Work Plans at the meeting of Commission chairs and the FIG Council in conjunction to the FIG Kick-Off Meeting in January 2015 in Athens, Greece.

All Commission Work Plans have now been finalised and synchronised with the Council Work Plan and were presented for the General Assembly for its approval in Sofia in May 2015.

At the General Assembly there was also time for the members to discuss the Work Plans and Commission activities with the Commission Chairs. This discussion was chaired by Vice President Diane Dumashie, who will be chairing ACCO (2015-2016).

There were several questions and a big interest to the work of the commissions. Among the questions and comments were:

• how to fit in the Fit-for-Purpose approach in the work of the commissions,
• the work on mutual recognition since especially young surveyors need standards of recognition,
• the importance of including educational issues in all especially technical commissions,
• the level of communication from commissions to delegates,
•  now that commission has worked on boundaries on land to encourage FIG to also work with maritime boundaries which is an area that can need further investigations
•  how neighbouring countries can cooperate and help each other and ask each other for advise

Appendices to item 13:

• 13.1: Commission 1 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.2: Commission 2 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.3: Commission 3 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.4: Commission 4 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.5: Commission 5 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.6: Commission 6 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.7: Commission 7 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.8: Commission 8 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.9: Commission 9 Work Plan 2015-2018 to be added
• 13.10: Commission 10 Work Plan 2015-2018
• 13.11 Young Surveyors Network Work Plan 2015-2018
  
• Presentations - handouts
  

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts the Commission Work Plans.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

14. NEW NETWORK: REGIONAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

The Council has established a new Network. This network originates from the Africa Task Force 2009-2014 and will in the term 2015-18 concentrate on Africa. This Network is chaired by FIG Vice President Diane Dumashie. The Network will work in close co-operation with all Commissions. The Network will have its first meeting in Sofia where members of the Network will be appointed by the Council and brought to the General Assembly for endorsement.

Appendix to item 14.1:

• Terms of Reference for the Network on Regional Capacity Development.
• Presentation by Diane Dumashie, Chair of the Regional Capacity Development Network – Handouts

Motion: That the General Assembly records the Council’s decision of establishment of the Regional Capacity Development Network, appointment of Vice President Diane Dumashie to chair the Network and its terms of reference for information.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15. NEW TASK FORCES - 2015-2018

The Council has proposed to establish four new Task Forces for 2015-2018.

15.1 Task Force on Real Property Markets

The first Task Force will assess the progress of establishing the real property markets in the countries with economies in transition. The Task Force will be chaired by Pekka Halme, Finnish Association of Geodetic and Land Surveyors MIL. The Task Force will have its first meeting in Sofia where members of the Task Force will be appointed by the Council and brought to the General Assembly for endorsement.

There were questions from the delegates why South America and Africa are not taken into consideration, these countries are poor and have problems with the property markets. Council responded that a study will be carried through in the countries around the Black Sea where the situation is far from ideal, and the experiences and results can be helpful for the rest of the world.

Appendix to item 15.1:

• Terms of Reference for the Task Force on Real Property Markets.
• Presentation - Handouts (presentation 17 May 2015)
• Presentation - Handouts (presentation 21 May 2015)

Motion: That the General Assembly endorses the Council’s proposal to establish the Task Force on Real Property Markets, appointment of Pekka Halme to chair the Task Force and its terms of reference.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15.2 Task Force on Commission Structure

The second Task Force will assess the Commissions and investigate if there is a need to revise their structure and provide a proposal on possible improvements.

The Task Force is originated from two proposals from FIG Member Associations.
One proposal originating from Geosuisse that was discussed at the General Assembly 2014, who proposed:
For Commission Chairs Elect, the right to nominate should be with the Commissions themselves. They have to evaluate the candidates and to make sure that she/he is able to fulfil the responsibility. The Commissions are the only bodies that have sufficient knowledge of their national delegates and who are able to judge their eligibility. Commissions will discuss with the national association the candidate they wish to nominate.

The second proposal that FIG Council has received is from the following member associations:

• Danish Association of Chartered Surveyors (Denmark)
• Finnish Association of Geodetic and Land Surveyors MIL (Finland)
• Norges Jordskiftekandidatforening, faglig gruppe av Tekna (NJKF) (Norway)
• Swedish professionals for the built environment

This proposal suggests evaluating the current Commission Structure in order to secure the efficiency of the FIG Commissions. Based on the above mentioned suggestions and further discussions in Council, Council has decided to establish a Task Force that in general will assess and evaluate the current structure of the commissions. The Task Force will be chaired by Mikael Lilje, Swedish professionals for the built environment, Samhällsbyggarna. The Task Force will have its first meeting in Sofia where members of the Task Force will be appointed by the Council and brought to the General Assembly for endorsement.

General Assembly representatives commented that they would prefer to wait to adopt the Task Force until the second General Assembly meeting in order to have the Terms of Reference discussed during the meeting that was organised during the Working Week.

At the second General Assembly meeting on 21 May Council returned to agenda item 15.2 for the adoption of the motion.

Appendix to item 15.2:

• Terms of Reference for the Task Force on Commission Structure
• Presentation - hand outs (presentation 17 May 2015)
• Presentation - hand outs (presentation 21 may 2015)

Motion: That the General Assembly endorses the Council’s proposal to establish the Task Force to assess the commission structure and the appointment of Mikael Lilje to chair the Task Force and its terms of reference.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15.3 Task Force on Corporate Members

The third Task Force will be established to strengthen the FIG relationship with corporate members. The Task Force will be chaired by John Hohol, National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) in cooperation with Bryn Fosburgh, Vice President of Trimble. The Task Force had its first meeting in Sofia where members of the Task Force will be appointed by the Council and brought to the General Assembly for endorsement.

Appendix to item 15.3:

• Terms of Reference for the Task Force on Corporate Members.
• Presentation hand-outs (presentation 17 May 2015)

Motion: That the General Assembly endorses the Council’s proposal to establish the Task Force on Corporate Members, appointment of John Hohol in cooperation with Bryn Fosburgh to chair the Task Force and its terms of reference.  

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15.4 Task Force on Scientific Journal

The fourth Task Force will be established to investigate the usefulness and need and if justified, the steps forward in order to introduce an FIG peer review Journal (electronic or printed). The Task Force will be chaired by Yerach Doytsher, Association of Licensed Surveyors in Israel (ALSI). The Task Force will have its first meeting in Sofia where members of the Task Force will be appointed by the Council and brought to the General Assembly for endorsement.

There were several questions and comments from delegates, hereunder:

• There are some excellent papers in FIG that need to be published – will the Task Force also look into other existing journals or only into an FIG Journal?
• In 2009 it was also investigated to start a scientific journal in FIG and the result was that FIG should not go into this field as there was no FIG experience in “peer review” at that time.  

It was decided that the final decision on the Task Force should be postponed to the second general assembly meeting so that the Task Force could be discussed at the planned meeting during the Working Week.

At the second General Assembly meeting on 21 May Council returned to agenda item 15.4 for the adoption of the motion. 

Appendix to item 15.3:

• Terms of Reference for the Task Force on Scientific Journal
• Presentation - hand-outs (presentation 17 May)
• Presentation - hand-outs (presentation 21 May)

Motion: That the General Assembly endorses the Council’s proposal to establish the Task Force on Scientific Journal, appointment of Yerach Doytsher to chair the Task Force and its terms of reference.

Decision:The motion was adopted.

16. FIG ACCOUNTS FOR 2014, AUDITOR's REPORT AND BUDGETS 2015-2018

Vice President Rudolf Staiger presented the report to the General Assembly. This report includes the auditors report from 2014, official accounts (income statement 2014) and balance sheet 31 December 2014, a summary of 2014 accounts, an updated budget for 2015 and proposals for budgets 2016-2018 with notes and proposal for membership fees for member associations in 2017.

Appendix to item 16/17:

• Report on Financial Issues (including 2014 accounts and budgets 2015-2018)
• Presentation - hand-outs

Annexes:

• 16A Auditor's Report, Income Statement for 2014 and Balance Sheet at 31 December 2014.
• 16B FIG Result 2014
• 16C FIG Budgets 2015-2018
• 16D List of member associations whose membership fees are in arrears for 2014 and earlier and that are not allowed to vote - to be published on the FIG web site 15 April 2015.

Motion: That the General Assembly

• adopts the audited accounts for 2014,
• adopts the Finance Report, and
• adopts budgets for 2015–2018

Decision:The motion was adopted.

17. SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR 2017

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 5,500 members. The membership fee structure was changed in 2009. Membership fees have been discussed as part of the finance report, appendix to item 16.

The 2014 General Assembly approved membership fees as follows:

The World Bank lists of the low-income economies and the lower-middle-income economies are available at: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups 

The 2016 subscription fees were kept at the same level as for the years 2012-2015. The Council 2011-14 had to suggest subscription fees up to 2016, however they recognised that there would be a change in leadership and the subscription fees is dependent on the strategies of the council 2015-18.

Although the budgets 2017 and 18 show a deficit, Council is also conscious of the economic condition that members are operating under and in particular member’s challenges with their national membership and budgets. Council wishes to respect this as well and both Council and FIG Office will continue to be prudent in its financial management. Council therefore proposes the level of subscription for member associations for 2017 to remain at the same level as in the previous years. Council has initiated a Task Force on how to attract corporate members and the hope is to increase the fees received by corporate members to limit the deficit or turn it into a positive result. FIG Council will evaluate after a year how this work develops, and if the work on corporate members does not show positive effect, Council suggests reconsidering the membership fee for 2017 at the General Assembly in 2016.

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts following membership fees payable by member associations in 2017:

and that the General Assembly notes that based on councils evaluation of the finances at the end of 2015, the level for 2017 might be increased at the General Assembly 2016.

Decision:The motion was adopted

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

18.1 Meetings and conferences

The main activities in the co-operation with the United Nations and the World Bank since the FIG congress in Kuala Lumpur have been:

• President Teo participated in UNESCAP, FAO and UN-Habitat co-organised Regional Multi-stakeholder Consultation on Land Tenure in Asia-Pacific
• President Teo participated in 21st Meeting of the International Steering Committee on Global Mapping, 5 August 2014, United Nations Headquarters in New York
• President Teo participated in Fourth Session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), 6 – 8 August 2014, United Nations Headquarters in New York
• FIG Young Surveyors and UN-Habitat/GLTN organised a workshop on The Social Tenure Domain Model – Training of Trainers, 7-10 November 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia primarily for African particpants.
• Vice President Pengfei Cheng and Past President Teo attended the Third High Level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management, 22-24 October 2014, Beijing, PR China
• FIG undertook two expert group meetings in Bangkok in cooperation with UN-Habitat/GLTN on Valuation of Unregistered Land and Properties Expert Group Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand, 13 - 14 October 2014 and Modernising Land Agencies Budgetary Approach: Costing and Financing of Land Administration Services in Developing Countries, Validation Workshop (CoFLAS), 15 - 16 October 2014, Bangkok, Thailand
• UN-GGIM-AP - Third Plenary Meeting 10 – 12 November 2014 Kuta, Bali, Republic of Indonesia, represented by FIG Honorary President Teo.
• Ninth Meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG-9), Mikael Lilje, Chair of FIG Commission 5 and UNOOSA representative, 9 – 14 November 2014 Kuta, Prague, Czech Republic
• UNECE CHLM, Geneva, February 2015 on Sustainable Land Management Week represented by  President Chryssy Potsiou
•  World Bank Conference March 2015 represented by President Chryssy Potsiou. There was a special side activity on the FIG Work Plan.
• UNHABITAT Prep II event, Nairobi, April 2015, represented by President Chryssy Potsiou and FIG Commission 7 chair Gerda Schennach

18.2 Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development resolution

At the FIG General Assembly 2014 FIG Council presented a FIG Statement on Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development where FIG expressed the importance of the resolution and urged the member organizations to bring the Statement back home to the respective countries.
The Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development (GGRF) resolution was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday 26 February 2015

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 all those who have contributed to this co-operation.

Decision:The motion was adopted.

19. 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 2014 was held in August 2014 and was attended by nine of the ten participating international organization. FIG has collaborative MoUs with a number of the organizations who are part of JB-GIS.

FIG has further bilateral agreements of co-operation with several other international associations like ISM, IFHP, CIB, ION, ICEC, FIABCI, IFHS, PAIGH and PAQS.

President CheeHai Teo attended the International Union of Notaries Conference on Land Tenure Security in Asia, 12-13 December 2014, Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam.

IPMS, is mainly driven by our member association RICS, and FIG was until the end of last period represented by FIG Commission 9 Chair Frances Plimmer, and FIG Council thanks her for her work. FIG Council will appoint a new representative to IPMS. In December 2014 there was launch of a new International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS) for Office Buildings.

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

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

20. DECISION OF THE VENUE FOR FIG WORKING WEEK 2019 – PRESENTATION OF CANDIDATES

The FIG Working Weeks are organised by FIG together with a local member association. FIG will together with the local member association have full responsibility of the arrangements and of the financial result. This offers FIG better opportunities in terms of organising events and generating revenue. Therefore the Council has to ensure that all candidates are aware of the role of FIG and split of responsibilities for organising the Working Week. This General Assembly will decide on the host for the 2019 Working Week.

The FIG Council has received five bids to host the FIG Working Week 2019, and FIG Council thanks all bidding member associations for their special engagement and contribution to FIG.

The Council has prepared a desktop summary on the bids and has also carried out an evaluation together with the FIG Office that will be presented at the General Assembly. In the summary report the following considerations, as laid out in the invitation documentation, are described for comparison:

The agenda item 22 roll call was moved to right before agenda item 28 to be sure that all member associations had arrived. Together with the roll call the voting sheets were distributed by the tellers in accordance with the decision made by the General Assembly in 2014 diversifying the number of voting sheets given to each member association consistent with the recorded number of members.

Vice President Rudolf Staiger took the roll call. The roll call was done for member associations only. Since only member associations that have paid all their membership fees to the end of 2014 were allowed to vote at the meeting, a list of member associations that were not allowed to vote was published and posted on the FIG web site 15 April 2015, and updated 21 May 2015.

In total 56 member associations out of 103 participated in the 2nd session of the General Assembly, and 75 voting sheets were handed out to the members who were allowed to vote.

Appendix to items 2 & 22: Roll Call
Appendix to items 2 & 22: List of member associations that are not allowed to vote at the General Assembly because of unpaid membership fees for 2014 and earlier

Motion: Those members present are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

23.  MEMBERSHIP

During the week FIG Council received one further application for membership from an association which was brought to the General Assembly for decision. Furthermore FIG council received 4 applications for academic membership and one application for corporate membership that was brought forward to General Assembly for information.

Member Associations
 
Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LISAG) MA-10126
 
The Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LISAG) has applied for membership. Their number of members is 100. Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana fulfils the criteria of FIG Member association. The application has been approved by the existing member association from Ghana, Ghana Institution of Surveyors. Application form is attached as appendix to agenda item 23.1. (to be added)
 
Motion: That the General Assembly decides on the membership issues based on the proposal of the Council.
That the General Assembly admits the Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LISAG) to become member association of FIG Added 21 May 2015
 
Decision: The motion was adopted.
 
Other membership matters
 
The Council has admitted the following academic member:

• Kaduna Polytechnic – Department of Topographic Science, Nigeria (AC-40137)
• University of Benin, Nigeria – Faculty of Environmental Sciences & Technology, Nigeria (AC-40138)
• Federal Unioversity of Technology, Surveying & Geoinformatics Minna, Nigeria (AC-40139)
• University of Nigeria Nsukka Enugua Campus, Surveying and Geoinformatics UNES (AC-40140)

The Council has admitted the following corporate member

• Innovation for Trading and Contracting (Category F) (CM-30058)

The number of corporate members is hereafter 22.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

24. REPORTS FROM ASSOCIATION, AFFILIATE, ACADEMIC AND CORPORATE MEMBERS FORUM (IF ANY)

During the Working Week there were several Forums and meetings. President Angel Yanakiev, Bulgaria, reported back from the Member Association Forum, and the minutes from the forum is attached as appendix to item 24.

FIG Vice President Pengfei Cheng reported back from the Director General’s/Affiliate Members Forum. He reported that 15 countries were represented. Bengt Kjellson, Lantmäteriet, Sweden chaired the Forum, and started the Fourm with a short presentation.

Academic Members Forum was chaired by Chair of Commission 2 Liza Groenendijk, who reported back that there was not such a big attendance; however the two sessions had been very interesting. First the participants had been visualising the surveyor of tomorrow. Some of the characteristics are that they will be dealing with multiple issues, have high responsibility and is still skilled in the technical issues – altogether many things to cover for one person. Their vision was furthermore that hopefully in 2030 there will be more women in surveying. At the 2nd session FIG as knowledge platform was discussed.

Finally Brent Jones, ESRI gave a short report from the Corporate Members Meeting.

Corporate members report

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report(s)

Decision:

25. REPORTS FROM COMMISSIONS, NETWORKS AND TASK FORCES (IF ANY)

FIG Vice President Diane Dumashie gave a summary report on the work and achievements of the FIG Commissions and the annual commission meetings during the week.

Presentation

The Networks reported back to the General Assembly:  

• Young Surveyors Network presentation
• Regional Capacity Development Network presentation

The Task Forces reported back to the General Assembly. Since two of the Task Forces were not yet endorsed by the General Assembly Council referred back to agenda items 15.2 and 15.4 for the final endorsement of the Task Forces.

Task Force reports:

• Real Property Markets  
• Commission Structure
• Scientific Journal   

Commission 9

The chair of Commission 9, Dr. Liao Junping has unfortunately decided to step down from his position. Council has therefore discussed the situation and has decided to appoint a new commission chair for the remaining period.  

Motion: That the General Assembly records the reports and that the General Assembly records the decision by Council to appoint Mr Steven Nystrom, NSPS as chair of commission 9 for the remaining period.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

26. REPORTS FROM PERMANENT INSTITUTIONS (IF ANY)

John Brock, The permanent institution on History (IIHS&M), reported back that they had a nice participation at the history sessions. They were especially glad to see that there are also Young Surveyors who are interested in history. Hereto John Brock commented the book that was included in the conference bags “Studies on History of Geodesy and Cartography in Bulgaria by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Veneta Kotseva. This is a very interesting book and a wonderful gift by the local organisers.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report(s).

Decision: The motion was adopted.

27. REPORT FROM FIG FOUNDATION (IF ANY)

A meeting for FIG Foundation was organised in Sofia and various activities took place during the Working Week.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

28. DECISION ON THE VENUE FOR 2019 FIG WORKING WEEK

The agenda item 28 was moved to before agenda item 25 due to time constrains and in order to be able to finalise the voting before lunch. Agenda Items 25, 26 and 27 were included in between the voting.

Candidates for FIG 2019 Working Week have made their presentations in the first session of the General Assembly and FIG Council has presented its evaluation. The decision will be made between:

• Dublin, Ireland, Society of Chartered Surveyors, Ireland (RICS)
• Nairobi, Kenya, Institution of Surveyors, Kenya
• Geneva or Interlaken, Switzerland, geosuisse
• Hanoi, Vietnam, The Vietnam Association of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (VGCR)

The decision will take place by blind votes following the FIG statutes and internal rules. If there will be no absolute majority in the first round of voting, a second vote will be organised between those two candidates that have most votes.

Motion: This General Assembly decides the host and venue for FIG 2019 Working Week.

Decision: A total of 75 votes were cast and the result of the ballot was as follows:  

• Candidate A: Dublin, Ireland, Society of Chartered Surveyors, Ireland (RICS) – 8 votes
• Candidate B: Nairobi, Kenya, Institution of Surveyors, Kenya – 4 votes
• Candidate C: Geneva or Interlaken, Switzerland, geosuisse – 37 votes
• Candidate D: Hanoi, Vietnam, The Vietnam Association of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (VGCR) – 26 votes

Since no candidate had full majority a new voting was carried through. A total of 75 votes were cast and the result of the ballot was as follows:  

•  Candidate 1: Geneva or Interlaken, Switzerland, geosuisse – 35 votes
•  Candidate 2: Hanoi, Vietnam, The Vietnam Association of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (VGCR) – 40 votes

The General Assembly decided that the FIG Working Week 2019 will be co-organised with The Vietnam Association of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (VGCR) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

29. REPORT ON THE FIG CONGRESS 2018 IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Co-congress director Orhan Ercan from the Chamber of Surveying Cadastre Engineers of Turkey gave a presentation on the preparations of FIG Congress 2018.

Presentation

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report

Decision: The motion was adopted.

30. REPORT ON THE FIG WORKING WEEK 2017 IN HELSINKI, FINLAND

Representatives from the Local Organising Committee from the Finnish Associations MIL and MAKLI gave a presentation on preparations of FIG Working Week 2017.

Presentation

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

31. REPORT ON THE FIG WORKING WEEK 2016 IN CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

Representatives from the Local Organising Committee from New Zealand Institute of Surveyors will give a presentation on preparations of FIG Working Week 2016.

Presentation

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

32. PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

The President acknowledged all involved in the preparation, organizing and delivery of the FIG Working Week 2015. Certificates of appreciation were handed out including to Col. Eng. Rumen Dimitrov, LTC PhD Mariyan Markov and Major eng. Svetoslav Tsarovski from Military Geographic Serves, Eng. Svetoslav Nakov, Director of the Agency of Geodesy Cartography and Cadastre Company for International Congresses, Ltd, Cadastre Agency at the Minister of Regional Development and the local organising committee Eng. Georgi Zlatanov, Dr. Alexander Yanakiev, Dipl. eng. Kremena Boyanova, President Chamber of Graduated Surveyors Dipl. eng. Angel Yanakiev, and Co-conference director Zlatan Zlatanov.    

CLOSING CEREMONY

The President presented her closing address that summarized the main outcomes of FIG Working Week 2015

Presentation - hand outs

At the closing ceremony the FIG banner was handed over by Mr. Yanakiev Angel Krumov, President of the Chamber of Graduated Surveyors in Bulgaria to and the President of NZIS, Jeff Needham.

The FIG Working Week 2016 will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand on 2-6 May 2016.

President Chryssy Potsiou closed the 38th FIG General Assembly at the FIG Working Week

• Read the report from the General Assembly
• Read the Working Week report

Data supplied by the FIG Office. 

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this data is accurate errors might exist. Requests for updates and corrections should be emailed to the FIG Office.