The FIG Working Week 2009, ‘Surveyors Key Role in Accelerated Development’, will take place at Eilat, Israel, from 3rd to 8th May 2009, the third FIG Working Week and General Assembly under the current Council and the last before FIG Congress 2010. The Working Week will be hosted jointly by the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and the Association of Licensed Surveyors in Israel (ALSI). The conference venue of Eilat, a resort city on the Red Sea, lends significance to the conference slogan ‘New Horizons across the Red Sea’ and offers very good meeting facilities and opportunities for social activities and relaxation prior to or after the working week. FIG Council is convinced the conference will fulfil all expectations both professionally and socially. The professional tracks of the Working Week will focus on the overall theme of the Council, ‘Building the Capacity’, including specific topics from the work-plans of all ten technical commissions and their working groups, as well as issues of special interest to local surveyors. The deadline for submission of full papers for peer-review process, and abstracts for normal presentations, is 10th November 2008.

Preparatory visit 7th FIG Regional Conference, Vietnam
FIG president Stig Enemark and FIG director Markku Villikka visited Hanoi, Vietnam from 8th to 11th July 2008 in preparation for the seventh FIG Regional Conference to be held there from 19th to 22nd October 2009. During the visit FIG representatives met the Council of the Vietnam Association of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (VGCR) and several representatives of the Vietnamese administration concerning surveying, mapping and land administration. The theme of the seventh FIG Regional Conference was confirmed: ‘Spatial Data Serving People - Land Governance and the Environment - Building the Capacity’.

The conference will last four days: three for technical sessions and one devoted to a joint technical visit to Ha Long Bay, with a cruise through this magnificent nature heritage. Each of the three days of the technical conference carries a specific theme, and keynote presentations will cover:

Land Administration
- land administration in Vietnam
- World Bank projects in the South East Asia region
- land acquisition in developing economies

SDI and the Environment
- SDI developments in Vietnam
- climate change and disaster risk management
- decentralisation and environmental management

Capacity Building
- professional standards and ethics
- survey education in Vietnam and SEA region
- promoting public private partnership

FIG and VGCR are looking for partners for the conference. The World Bank and UN agencies have already promised partnership. As an outcome of the conference, a FIG publication entitledHanoi Declaration on Land Acquisition in Developing Economieswill be prepared. The organisers expect three hundred to 350 participants, coming from overseas, within the region (East and South East Asia) and from Vietnam. The registration fees are set low to allow as broad as possible participation. The registration fee for international participants will be about €350,00 including lunches, dinners and the technical tour to Ha Long Bay.