A Joint FIG/CIREA/HKIS Seminar on Appraisal and Property Protection was held by the China Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and Agents (CIREA), the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS) and FIG Commission 9, Valuation Management of Real Estate, in co-operation with FIG Commission 8, Spatial Planning and Development. The major goal of this seminar was to intensify discussion between valuation experts, surveyors, real-estate experts, investors, financiers, urban planners, researchers, teachers and decision-makers, and to develop common ideas for shaping the future.

The seminar was very dynamic, with about two hundred participants from nine countries. With global populations becoming concentrated in cities, there is a huge need for new building land, especially in many Asian countries. Before building can begin, land use has to be planned and investment secured. Valuation is another prerequisite. The seminar discussed these matters and papers were presented on the themes, withparticular focus on China, but also on the broader context.

CIREA president Song Chunhua, FIG vice-president-elect Teo CheeHai, HKIS vice-president Stephen M.W. Yip and vice-minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the P. R. China. Qi Ji all gave welcoming addresses. Four keynote presentations were made. Prof. Kauko Viitanen spoke on ‘Compulsory purchase and compensations - problems in present proceedings'. Francis Ng, deputy director of the Lands Department of the Government of Hong Kong (SAR) and HKIS past president spoke on the ‘Price Tag for Public Utility Land Grant". Prof. Liu Hongyu CIREA vice-president addressed the ‘American sub-prime mortgage crisis: The Role of Real Estate Appraisers' and Mr Chai Qiang, CIREA vice-president, the ‘Theory and Practice of Compensation Appraisal of Impaired Property in China'.

A workshop was held on FIG recommendations for good practice in compulsory purchase and compensations. On Sunday afternoon there was the chance to participate in a ‘technical tour' of the Palace Museum and Tian'anmen Square.

Chartered Surveoyors Conference 

FIG president Stig Enemark attended the Annual Conference of the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Dublin, Ireland, on 17th October 2008. The one-day event, entitled ‘Ireland´s Future in a Global Economy', included a welcoming address by SCS president Sean McCormack and six key presentations on the conference theme. David Drumm talked about banking and property at home and abroad. Prof. John Fitzgerald addressed Ireland´s economic performance on the world stage. Tom Costello spoke about the forecast for Irish construction. John Bruder discussed Ireland in the global economy from a developer's perspective, while David Strahan looked at the global oil crisis and life after oil. Stig Enemark covered property development and the role of the global surveying profession.

Successful Meeting

The conference was well attended and provided useful insight into the role of and opportunities for the surveying profession in Ireland during the current financial crisis. Enemark also took the opportunity to explain the wider role of the surveying profession both in land management and in fulfilling the global agenda as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals.