Minutes

FIG 35^th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1. OPENING PROCEEDINGS

President CheeHai Teo opened the 35th General Assembly and welcomed the members and delegates in Rome, Italy and the second General Assembly of the current four-year term. The President expressed his gratitude to members and delegates for their participation and acknowledged the hard work and generous support of CNGeGL and the local organising committee to assure the high standard of this Working Week. The Working Week in Rome with 1,500 participants from almost 100 countries is the biggest Working Week in FIG history.

Before the official meeting President Fausto Savoldi welcomed the members and delegates to Rome on behalf of CNGeGL.

The President welcomed Honorary Presidents Juha Talvitie, Robert W. Foster and Stig Enemark to the meeting and noted several greetings and apologies that were received from member associations and other members.

The General Assembly stood and observed a moment of silence to honour the memory of Honorary President Prof. Heinz Draheim (Germany), Honorary Member Milan Klimes (Czech Republic) and Dr. David Neale (Commission 4 officer, Trinidad and Tobago) and other colleagues that had passed away during the past year.

2. ROLL CALL

Vice President Rudolf Staiger 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 registration and information given to the FIG Office.

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 2011 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 on 12 April and updated on 9 May 2012.

Appendix to items 2 & 23: Roll Call
Appendix to items 2 & 23: List of member associations that are not allowed to vote at the General Assembly because of unpaid membership fees for 2011 and earlier – 10 May 2012.

66 member associations out of 107 were present at this session, which is more than one third of the membership needed for the General Assembly to be constitutionally valid. 58 member associations were allowed to vote.

Motion: That members present are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

3. APPOINTMENT OF TELLERS

The General Assembly shall appoint two persons as tellers following the principle that one of the tellers will represent member associations hosting the preceding ((Ordre National des Ingénieurs Géomètres-Topographes, ONIGT, Morocco) and the current General Assembly (Consiglio Nazionale Geometri e Geometri Laureati, CNGeGL, Italy).

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints President Mohamed Chrourou from ONIGT and Secretary General Enrico Rispoli from CNGeGL as the tellers 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 34^th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Minutes have been circulated previously.

Appendix to item 5: Minutes of the General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco, May 2011

Minutes of the General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco, May 2011 without appendices

Motion: That the minutes be adopted as recorded.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

6. MEMBERSHIP

6.1 Acceptance of new members

6.1.1 China Land Science Society（CLSS)

The China Land Science Society (CLSS) has submitted an application to become the third member association of FIG from China P. R. The association was constituted in 1980 and currently has 1,130 qualified members. The application is supported by the two current Chinese member associations. 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 China Land Science Society (CLSS)

Motion: That the General Assembly admits the China Land Science Society (CLSS) to become a member association of FIG.

Decision: The motion was adopted and the FIG President presented Vice Minister Shiyuan Wang, President of CLSS the membership certificate who also addressed the assembly.

6.1.2 NP Cadastral Engineers, Russian Federation

NP Cadastral Engineers has submitted an application to become a second member association of FIG from Russian Federation. The association was constituted in 2006 and represents private surveyors in Russia. The association has currently 1,366 members. The application is supported by the current Russian member association Rosreestr that indicates in their supportive letter that it would be good to have the Russian private surveyors represented in FIG. 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 6.1.2: Membership application from NP Cadastral Engineers

Motion: That the General Assembly admits the NP Cadastral Engineers to become a member association of FIG.

Decision: The motion was adopted and the FIG President presented Mr. Victor Kislov, President of NP Cadastral Engineers the membership certificate who also addressed the assembly.

6.2 Expulsion of member associations

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

• Botswana Surveying and Mapping Association, Botswana
• AGEN Association Géomètres-Experts du Niger AGEN, Niger

The General Assembly has powers 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 these member associations in Rome.

Association des Géomètres et Topographes du Burkina (AGT-B) from Burkina Faso was expelled by the General Assembly in 2011, but AGT-B has has since paid its arrears and the Council has restored its membership at its meeting on 3 May 2012.

After acceptance of new member associations and expulsions the number of FIG member associations is 105 from 87 countries.

Motion: That the General Assembly expels the

• Botswana Surveying and Mapping Association, Botswana
• AGEN Association Géomètres-Experts du Niger AGEN, Niger

from the FIG membership if their membership fees remained in arrears by 6 May 2012.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

6.3 Other membership issues

Corporate members

The Council has admitted the following companies to become a Corporate Member of FIG after the General Assembly in 2011:

• Meridian+, Russian Federation (category C – silver level)
• KQ Geo Technologies Co, China PR (category D – bronze level).

Following corporate members have terminated their membership from 1.1.2012:

• Ashtech, USA (category C –silver level)
• Blom ASA, Denmark (category C – silver level)
• Geotrilho Topografia Engenharia e Projecto Ida, Portugal (category E – basic level)
• Geoexpert, France (category E – basic level)
• Geoinformatics, Netherlands (category E – basic level)

In addition the membership of International Land Systems (ILS), Inc. has been moved over to Thomson Reuters.

After these changes the number of corporate members is now 25.

Academic members

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

• Makerere University, Geomatics and Land Management Department, Uganda
• UNIGIS International Association
• Abia State Polytechnic, Surveying and Geoinformatics Dept, Nigeria
• Kazakh National Technical University after K. I. Satpaev, Kazakhstan
• Lebanese Canadian University, Faculty of Science and Art, Lebanon
• Hogere Zeevaartschool, Institute for Hydrography, Belgium
• Universidad de Jaen, Programa Formativo en Catastros, Valoraciones Immobiliarias y Urbanismo, Spain

University College London and Newcastle University from United Kingdom and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela from Spain have terminated their membership.

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

• Technological Education Institute of Athens, Greece
• University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania
• Lithuanian University of Agriculture, Lithuania
• University of Lagos, Nigeria (restored 9 May 2012)
• Nnamdi Azkiwe University, Nigeria (restored 9 May 2012)
• Dunarea de Jos University Galati, Romania
• Ardhi University, Tanzania
• The Pennsylvania State University, USA

The number of Academic Members after these changes is 87.

Correspondents

Council has terminated membership of correspondents from Benin, Ethiopia, Guyana and Senegal because these countries have joined FIG at higher level or because the correspondent has passed away.

After these decisions the number of correspondents is 14.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted and the new members present at the General Assembly were given their membership certificate.

7. APPOINTMENT OF AN HONORARY MEMBER

Matthew B. Higgins

The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute, SSSI from Australia has sent the Federation a nomination letter in which it proposes that FIG appoints Mr. Matthew B. Higgins as an Honorary Member of FIG.

According to paragraph 3.1.7 in the statutes “honorary member: an individual who has materially assisted the development and promotion of the surveying profession at the international level”. Nomination shall be made by a member association or by the Council, which will consider it and submit it to a vote of the General Assembly. The 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 decided to propose to the General Assembly that it appoints Mr. Matt B. Higgins as an Honorary Member of the Federation for the outstanding services rendered to the Federation.

Appendix to item 7: The nomination letter from Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute, SSSI

The nomination was presented to the General Assembly by Mr. Rob Sarib from SSSI.

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints Mr. Matthew B. Higgins as an Honorary Member of FIG.

Decision: The General Assembly appointed Mr. Matthew B. Higgins an Honorary Member of FIG. The badge with silver oak leaves and certificate of Appointment as Honorary Member for his outstanding services to the Federation were presented to Mr. Rob Sarib who received them on behalf of Mr. Higgins.

8. PRESIDENT’S REPORT

The written report was appended to the Agenda and taken as read. President CheeHai Teo proceed to orally present his report on the core activities of the Federation since the Working Week in May 2011 as well as his observation on the current standing of the Profession.

Appendix to item 8:
8.1 President’s report
8.2 Handouts of President’s PowerPoint presentation

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

9. REPORTS FROM FIG COMMISSIONS AND FIG NETWORKS 2011-2012 

Each Commission Chair, 2011-2014, has submitted a written report on the Commission activities covering period from Working Week in Marrakech to Working Week in Rome. These reports include reports of the Commission chair and Commission working groups. The reports include also the two FIG networks: Standards Network and Young Surveyors Network.

Vice President Rudolf Staiger, Chair of ACCO, gave an overall report on Commission activities at the meeting.

Appendices to item 9: Commission reports:

• 9.01 Commission 1
• 9.02 Commission 2
• 9.03 Commission 3
• 9.04 Commission 4
• 9.05 Commission 5
• 9.06 Commission 6
• 9.07 Commission 7
• 9.08 Commission 8
• 9.09 Commission 9
• 9.10 Commission 10
• 9.11 Standards Network
• 9.12 Young Surveyors Network
• 9.13 Handouts of Vice President Staiger’s report

Motion: That the General Assembly adopts reports of the Commission and Network Chairs and records its thanks to the chairs and other officers of the Commissions and Networks for their on going contributions.

Decision: The motion was adopted and the General Assembly recorded its thanks to all chairs and Commission officers for their work during the past year.

10. REPORTS OF TASK FORCES 2011-2012

FIG has currently four Task Forces: 1) Task Force on Spatially Enabled Society, chaired by Dr. Daniel Steudler (Switzerland) will get its work completed by publishing its final report at the General Assembly in Rome; 2) FIG Africa Task Force (2009–2014), chaired by Dr. Diane Dumashie (United Kingdom); 3) Task Force on Surveyors and the Climate Change (2011-2014) chaired by Prof. John Hannah (New Zealand); and 4) Task Force on Property and Housing (2011-2014) chaired by Prof. Chryssy Potsiou (Greece).

Appendices to item 10: Task Force reports:

• 10.1 Task Force on Spatially Enabled Society
• 10.2 FIG Africa Task Force
  - Handouts of PowerPoint presentation
• 10.3 Task Force on Surveyors and the Climate Change
• 10.4 Task Force on Property and Housing
  - Handouts of PowerPoint presentation
• FIG Publication No. 58: Spatially Enabled Society. Joint publication of FIG-Task Force on Spatially Enabled Society in cooperation with GSDI Association and with the support of Working Group 3 of the PCGIAP. FIG Report 2012. Hard copies were distributed at the General Assembly. At the moment .pdf version.

Motion: That the General Assembly records all Task Force reports and records its thanks to the Chairs of the Task Forces and their members for their work and contributions.

Decision: The motion was adopted and the General Assembly recorded its special thanks to the Task Force on Spatially Enabled Society for successfully completing its task, its report and its publication (FIG Publication No. 58) and recorded its thanks and appreciation to the members and Chair of the Task Force.

11. REPORTS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF PERMANENT INSTITUTIONS 2011-2012

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

Mr. Christiaan Lemmen, Director of OICRF had prepared a report on the OICRF activities since the General Assembly in Marrakech. He gave a supplementary 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.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

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

Mr. Jan de Graeve, Director of the IIHSM had prepared a report on the IIHSM activities since the General Assembly in Marrakech. He gave a supplementary oral report at the General Assembly drawing special attention to the celebrations of Mercator in 2012.

Appendix to item 11.2: 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.

12. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIG FOUNDATION 2011-2012

Mr. John Hohol, President of the FIG Foundation had prepared a report on the FIG Foundation activities from May 2011 to February 2012. He made a supplementary report orally at the General Assembly.

Appendix to item 12: Report of the FIG Foundation activities 2011-2012

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 and efforts.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

13. REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON VOTING RIGHTS

The Working Group on voting rights was established in Marrakech by the General Assembly that also appointed the members to the Working Group from member associations from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, New Zealand, Netherlands, South Africa and USA. The group elected Brian Coutts from New Zealand as the Chairperson and Henning Elmstroem as the Vice Chair.

The Chairperson had prepared a report for the General Assembly. The report included the summary of the discussions and chairperson’s conclusions. As appendices there were reports on the development of the voting rights in FIG (prepared by Henning Elmstroem, Denmark) and on participation to FIG General Assemblies 2000-2011 (prepared by Maria Joao Henriques, Portugal).

The Chairperson presented the interim report at the first session of the General Assembly followed by questions on clarification from members from OGE, France; HKIS, Hong Kong SAR, China; GhIS, Ghana; ONIGT, Morocco; GIN, Netherlands; NZIS, New Zealand; NIS, Nigeria; and RICS, United Kingdom followed by a summary from Vice Chair Henning Elmstroem. The members were encouraged and invited to continue the discussion at a Presidents’ Meeting on Tuesday 8 May 16:00-17:30.

The Chairperson was requested to report back to the General Assembly in its second session. The General Assembly will then guide the Council and Working Group how to proceed with the voting right issues.

Appendix to item 13, 21 and 29: Working Group on Voting Rights – Chairperson’s report
Annex 1: History of Voting Rights in FIG, short version (18 pages) as replaced 29 March 2012 and full version with annexes
Annex 2: Participation of Member Associations of FIG in the General Assemblies 2000-2011
Presentations at the General Assembly:
- Handouts of Chairperson’s report
- Handouts of Vice Chairs report

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report and discussion and request the Chair of the Working Group to report back to the General Assembly at its second session 10 May 2012.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

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

The main partners in the co-operation with the United Nations and the World Bank since the FIG Working Week in Marrakech have been:

• World Bank
• United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management
• United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT)
• Global Land Tool Network
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN)
• United Nations Office for Outer Space Affair (UNOOSA)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
• United Nations sponsored Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP)

The activities with these bodies are described in the President’s report, appendix to item 8.

UN ECA have prepared and signed a Memorandum of Understanding and forwarded to FIG. Council proposed that is MoU be presented to the General Assembly for its endorsement.

Appendix to item 14: Memorandum of Understanding between UN ECA and FIG

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.
• endorse the Memorandum of Understanding between UN ECA and FIG.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

15. 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 2011 was held in Paris in July 2011 where Prof. William Cartwright was elected as the new chairperson of JB-GIS.

Co-operation with international and regional organisations is covered in President’s report, appendix to item 8.

FIG has bilateral agreements of co-operation with several other international associations like ISM, IFHP, CIB, ION, ICEC, FIABCI, IFHS and PAQS. Some of the partners are also working together within the Habitat Professionals Forum.

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.

16. FIG ACCOUNTS FOR 2011 AND AUDITOR’S REPORT AND BUDGETS 2012-2015

Vice President Iain Greenway has prepared a report on the FIG Financial Issues that he presented to the General Assembly. This report included summary of 2011 accounts, an updated budget for 2012 and proposals for budgets 2012-2015 with notes and proposal for membership fees for member associations in 2014.

The Auditors Report includes the auditors report from 2011, official accounts (income statement 2011) and balance sheet 31 December 2011.

Appendix to item 16:

• Report on Financial Issues (including 2011 accounts and budgets 2012-2015)
  Annexes:
• 16A Auditor's Report, Income Statement for 2011 and Balance Sheet at 31 December 2011.
• 16B FIG Result 2011
• 16C FIG Budgets 2012-2015
• 16D List of member associations whose membership fees are in arrears for 2010 and earlier and that are not allowed to vote, 10 May 2012.
• 16E Vice President Greenway’s finance presentation at the General Assembly – handouts of presentation

Motion: That the General Assembly

• adopts the audited accounts for 2011 and
• adopts budgets for 2012–2015

Decision: The motion was adopted.

17. SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR 2014

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

The 2011 General Assembly approved membership fees for 2013 as follows:

At the first session of the General Assembly each candidate was given the same time (10 minutes for those Bulgaria and Romania who are bidding for 2015 and 2016 and 10 minutes for Nepal and New Zealand) to make a presentation of their destination and framework of the Working Week and their bid.

Decision on the venue of FIG Working Week 2015 and Working Week 2016 will be made at the second session of the General Assembly on 10th May. The voting will be made by blind votes. If there will be no absolute majority in the first voting for any of the Working Weeks, second vote will be organised between those two candidates that have most votes. If the applicant that has applied for Working Week 2015 is not successful it will go for the selection of the venue for the Working Week 2016.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the presentations and decides to make its decision on the venue at its second session.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

21. PRESIDENTS’ MEETING

Appendix to item 21 and 29: Recommendation from the Working Group on Voting Rights to the General Assembly

A total of 47 persons attended this Presidents’ Meeting out of which 40 were Presidents or Heads of delegations. At the meeting challenges facing the member associations and relations between member associations and FIG were discussed as well as experiences from the FIG Working Week 2012. A separate memorandum of this meeting is circulated to the participants of the meeting and to the Presidents of member associations. There was positive feedback on this year’s format for networking and interaction amongst Presidents and Heads of Delegation including support to the concept that in the future Presidents’ meetings could be convened over two sessions.

Appendix to item 22:
22.1 Invitation to Presidents of FIG member associations
22.2 Summary Notes of the Presidents' meeting

General Assembly, Second Session
Thursday, 10 May, 10:30–12:00 and 13:00-15:00
Salone dei Cavalieri 3 & 4, Rome Cavalieri

23. ROLL CALL

Vice President Staiger 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 registration and information given to the FIG Office.

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 2011 were allowed to vote at the meeting. A list of member associations that are not allowed to vote was published on the FIG web site 12 April and updated 9 May 2012.

To be noted that the General Assembly had appointed President Mohamed Chrourou from ONIGT, Morocco and Secretary General Enrico Rispoli from CNGeGL, Italy as tellers to this session of the General Assembly.

Appendix to items 2 & 23: Roll Call
Appendix to items 2 & 23: List of member associations that are not allowed to vote at the General Assembly because of unpaid membership fees for 2011 and earlier – 10 May 2012.

65 member associations out of 105 were present at this session, which is more than one third of the membership needed for the General Assembly to be constitutionally valid. 58 member associations were allowed to vote.

Motion: That members present are recorded in the minutes.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

24. MEMBERSHIP

The Council has decided to accept following new academic member at its meeting 9 May 2012:

• The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China P. R.

The Council has also restored the academic membership of the University of Lagos (Nigeria) and Nnamdi Azkiwe University (Nigeria) after they had paid their arrears in Rome.

After this the number of academic members is 90.

Motion: That the General Assembly endorses the Council decision on academic members.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

25. ELECTION OF TWO VICE PRESIDENTS FOR 2013-2016

Motion: That the General Assembly elects two Vice Presidents for FIG for term of office 1.1.2013-31.12.2016.

Decision: At the election in the first round Mr. Bruno Razza got 33 votes, Mr. Yaacoub Saade 14 votes and Dr. Pengfei Cheng 10 votes (with one invalid vote). As Mr. Razza secured more than half of the valid votes he was elected as the Vice President of the Federation for 1.1.2013-31.12.2016.
In the second round of the election Dr. Cheng got 30 votes while Mr. Saade got 27 votes (with one invalid vote), so Dr. Cheng was elected for the second open post of FIG Vice President for 1.1.2013-31.12.2016.

26. ELECTION OF COMMISSION CHAIRS ELECT FOR 2013-2014

The General Assembly listened to the presentations of the candidates for the position of the Commission Chairs Elect at its first meeting. At this meeting the General Assembly appointed or elected the Chairs Elect for the term of office 1.1.2013-31.12.2014. The Chairs Elect will under normal circumstances be automatically elected as Chair of their Commission for the term of office 1.1.2015-31.12.2018.

The election will take place on the following candidates:

Because there was only one candidate for Commission 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9, these candidates were appointed as Commission Chair Elect by the General Assembly.

For Commissions 1 and 8 there are two candidates for each Commission, so the election took place between these two candidates. For Commission 7 there were three candidates, so the election took place between these three. If there would not be absolute majority in the first round of voting, a second vote shall be organised between those two candidates that have most votes.

The Council had proposed to postpone the election for Commission 10 to the General Assembly in 2013.

Motion: That the General Assembly appoints or elects the Chair Elect to Commissions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 8 and 9 as described above and that the General Assembly decides to postpone the election of Chair Elect to Commission 10 to next General Assembly in 2013.

Decision: In the election for Chair Elect in Commission 1 Mr. Brian Coutts got 49 votes and Dr. Ping Xiao 9 votes and in Commission 8 Mr. Kwame Tenadu got 40 votes and Mr. Raymond Chan 18 votes. In Commission 7 elections on the first round, Dr. Daniel Steudler got 25 votes, Ms. Gerda Schennach 21 votes and Ms. Claire Galpin 12 votes. The second round of voting for Commission 7 Chair Elect was then carried out between Dr. Steudler and Ms. Schennach and Ms. Schennach got 27 votes and Dr. Steudler 25 votes (with 6 invalid votes).

The General Assembly appointed or elected following persons to Commission Chairs Elect for period 1.1.2013-31.12.2014:

• Commission 1: Mr. Brian J. Coutts, NZIS, New Zealand
• Commission 2: Ms. Liza Groenendijk, GIN, Netherlands
• Commission 3: Mr. Enrico Rispoli, CNGeGL, Italy
• Commission 4: Ms. Angela Kesiena Etuonovbe, NIS, Nigeria
• Commission 5: Prof. Volker Schwieger, DVW, Germany
• Commission 6: Dr. Ivo Milev, USLMB, Bulgaria
• Commission 7: Ms. Gerda Schennach, OVG, Austria
• Commission 8: Mr. Kwame Tenadu, GhIS, Ghana
• Commission 9: Prof. Liao Jinping (Patrick), CIREA, China PR

27. DECISION OF THE VENUES FOR FIG WORKING WEEK 2015 AND 2016

Candidates for hosting the FIG Working Week 2015 and Working Week 2016 made their presentations in the first session of the General Assembly. The decision was made between:

The voting was made by blind votes. If there would be no absolute majority in the first voting for any of the Working Weeks, second vote will be organised between those two candidates that have most votes. If the applicant that has applied for Working Week 2015 is not successful it will go for the selection of the venue for the Working Week 2016.

Motion: That the General Assembly decides on the venue for FIG Working Week 2015 and Working Week 2016.

Decision: In the selection for the venue of FIG Working Week 2015 Bulgaria got 34 votes, Nepal 10 votes and Romania 10 votes. The General Assembly had thus decided that the Working Week 2015 will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria co-organized with the Chamber of Graduated Surveyors Bulgaria. Decision on the venue of the Working Week 2016 was made between New Zealand and Romania. In the voting New Zealand got 43 votes and Romania 10 votes. The General Assembly had decided that the Working Week 2016 will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand co-organized with the New Zealand Institution of Surveyors.

28. REPORTS FROM COMMISSIONS AND TASK FORCES

Commission Officers (ACCO), Commissions and Task forces had their annual and other administrative meetings in Rome. Vice President Rudolf Staiger reported back to the General Assembly on the main outcome of the meetings. None of these require an endorsement of the General Assembly at this stage.

Motion: That the General Assembly records the reports and decides on any recommendations arising from the reports.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

29. REPORTS FROM WORKING GROUP ON VOTING RIGHTS

Chairperson presented his report on the Working Group activities at the first session of the General Assembly. The report was further discussed at the Presidents’ Meeting on Tuesday. The Chairperson reported back to the General Assembly on the recommendations from the Presidents’ meeting. The recommendations were accepted at the Presidents’ meeting with a clear majority.

Appendix to item 13, 21 and 29: Working Group on Voting Rights – Chairperson’s report
Annex 1: History of Voting Rights in FIG, short version (18 pages) and full version with annexes
Annex 2: Participation of Member Associations of FIG in the General Assemblies 200-2011

Appendix to item 21 and 29: Recommendation from the Working Group on Voting Rights to the General Assembly

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report and decides on next steps or proposals to the Council on how to proceed with the voting right issue.

Decision: The General Assembly unanimously adopted the recommendations of the Presidents and Heads of Delegations present at the President’s Meeting of 8th May 2012 as presented by the Chair of the Working Group on Voting Rights, which are as follows:

1. the voting system be changed;
2. that the right to vote remains with members associations;
3. that a sliding scale of voting, relative to association’s membership numbers, be adopted;
4. that Council prepare a proposal (and after consultation with the members) to be adopted no later than at the 1st session and to be used at the 2nd session of the General Assembly at Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

The General Assembly recorded its thanks to the Presidents and Heads of Delegations present at the President’s Meeting of 8th May for a recommendation that is clear, the Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the General Assembly’s Working Group on Voting Rights for its work and report. The General Assembly agreed that the work of the Working Group on Voting Rights has now completed and applauded its deliberations and efforts.

30. CO-OPERATION WITH THE FIG CORPORATE MEMBERS

A meeting for FIG Corporate Members was organised in Rome. A report on co-operation between FIG and its Corporate Members was given at the meeting by Brent Jones, Esri.

Appendix to item 30: Handouts of the presentation of Brent Jones

Motion: That the General Assembly records the report.

Decision: The motion was adopted.

31. REPORT ON THE 8th FIG REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

President Nelma Bénia from the Asociación de Agrimensores Uruguay gave a presentation on preparations of the 8th FIG Regional Conference (www.fig.net/uruguay) in Montevideo, Uruguay and invited the members to attend this important meeting for Latin America.

Appendix to item 31: Handouts of President Bénia's presentation.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

32.REPORT ON THE CONGRESS 2014 IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

President Mohammad Azmi Mohd Zin from the Association of Authorised Land Surveyors Malaysia and representatives of the Organising Committee of FIG 2014 (www.fig.net/fig2014) gave a presentation on preparations of FIG Congress 2014.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

33.  REPORT ON THE FIG WORKING WEEK 2013 IN ABUJA, NIGERIA, 2013

President Yakubu Maikano from the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors and representatives of the Organising Committee of FIG Working Week 2013 (www.fig.net/fig2013) gave a presentation on preparations of FIG Working Week 2013. The greeting from the President of Nigeria was presented by the Ambassador of Nigeria to Italy.

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

Decision: The motion was adopted.

34. PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

At the Closing Ceremony certificates of appreciation were given to Geom. Fausto Savoldi, President of CNGeGL, Congress Director Enrico Rispoli, Secretary General of CNGeGL and Ms. Maria Scorza, Conference Coordinator, FIG 2012 and other members of the organising committee, CNGeGL office and Italian young surveyors.

CLOSING CEREMONY

President CheeHai Teo presented a summary of the main outcome and highlights of the FIG Working Week 2012 and thanked all parties, participants and accompanying persons for a memorable event.

Appendix: Handouts of the President’s Closing Address.

At the closing ceremony the FIG banner was handed over by Geom. Fausto Savoldi, President of CNGeGL to Mr. Yakubu Maikano, President of NIS. The FIG Working Week 2013 will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, 6-10 May 2013. President Teo formally closed the 35th General Assembly of FIG as well as the Working Week.

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.