My first year in office passed quickly and it seem that the last AGM was just held not long ago. I wish to thank all the Council members and Office Bearers for their dedication in the work of the Division. I also wish to thank all committee/working group chairmen and members for their contribution to keep the business of the Division so successful.
With the mission of contributing our professional expertise to serve the community, we have provided views in various areas for development of public policies. We have submitted our views to the Chief Executive relating to the 2011 Policy Address, in particular on (a) Determination of land boundaries and (b) Establishment of Cadastre system for engaging the public to participate in management of land resources of Hong Kong.
We support the Government the enactment of legislation for determination of land boundaries, in order to administer the leased and un-leased land, control land use and formulate policies for planning and land development. The provision should best be incorporated in the Land Survey Ordinance (Cap 473) such that the standard and control of relevant professional are already in place. We also urge the Government to consider establishing a cadastre system in Hong Kong in facilitating efficient access of relevant land boundary information by the public.
For driving the development of spatial data infrastructure, we have organized the conference on Spatial Data Infrastructure in Hong Kong on 12 May 2011. This event had created a platform to foster collaboration in the industry.
The conference is co-organized by HKIS, the IT Division of the Hong Kong institution of Engineers, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors.
In 2012, LSD will continue to strengthen our relationship with our International counterparts through international conferences e.g. FIG, SEASC and ISPRS and so on. We shall also enhance our communication with the Mainland surveyors through various discussions, meetings and
conferences.
We shall ensure that we have close cooperation with the academia and provide HKIS views through various channels including regular liaison meetings and the Advisory Committee Meeting of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) of (PolyU).
We shall conduct series of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) sessions for surveyors at all levels are designed to enhance members’ knowledge and to share our knowledge with counter-parts.
We shall have to amend our Rules and Guide for the APC/ATC for our Division. The Divisional Education Committee shall study various possible options to ensure that LSD is able to widen our scope in addressing the needs to application of membership in both professional grade and technical grade.
Supplement VIII to Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)
The Government reached agreement with the Central People's Government on the enhancement of economic and trade co-operation and exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland China on 13 December 2011 under the Mainland and Hong Kong CEPA.
It is mentioned in the Annex page 15 under the supplement VIII to CEPA as saying that it is to allow Hong Kong permanent residents to take qualification examination for land surveyors in the Mainland, and a certificate will be issued to those who pass the examination. Full details of the supplement VIII to CEPA is available at http://www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa/legaltext/cepa9.html. You may also visit Trade and Industry Department website at http://www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa/index.html for any further updates on CEPA.
In 2012, we shall further explore the issue related to our Mainland counterparts and the details of the training and other matters about the examination. You may like to express your views on the issue through the below contact points.
LSD Contact Points
