The annual meeting of FIG Commission 7, "Cadastre and Land Management" took place this year in Seoul, Korea from 18th to 23rd May, just one week after the FIG Working Week in Hong Kong, China. About forty participants attended, among them delegates from fifteen countries. The meeting was opened by Mr Kong Min Bae, president of Korean Cadastral Survey Corporation (KCSC), and by the vice-minister of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAH) and received very strong political support from both organisations. During the technical tour to MOGAHA, Paul van der Molen, FIG vice-president and chair of Commission 7, and the three working group chairs, were received by minister Myung-Jae Park.

Good Discussions
Korea is one of the first countries to integrate cadastral information into an e-Governance infrastructure, using advanced technology and providing electronic services to citizens. KCSC aims to become the best company for cadastral-survey in the world and is already participating in international projects. Korean representatives introduced KCSC activities and the profession of land surveyor in Korea. The preparation of a special technical session on "slum financing" and the contribution of Commission 7 were also discussed, an important event to be held during the Stockholm Working Week in 2008. The workshop on land administration for sustainable development was also examined. Organised as a pre-conference to GeoConference 2007 (Quebec, Canada, October 2007) by FIG Commission 7 in collaboration with the Federation des Geometres Francophones, the workshop will take advantage of the presence of dele­gates from many developing countries to:
-listen to their needs
-learn from their experiences and projects
-involve them in concrete solutions
-develop a land-administration network in education and training
-involve students and young land surveyors in international development projects.
The development of a standard for the cadastral domain was discussed too, and the intention is for a proposal to be forwarded to the ISO, in close co-operation with the FIG Standards network. The cadastral template a "Worldwide Comparison of Cadastral Systems" now contains information on about forty countries. Maintenance of information is addressed; many countries plan to integrate cadastral systems within (spatial) data infrastructures. The annual meeting was a success and well organised, special thanks being due to the Korean organisers, particularly KCSC.

Symposium and Expo
The open symposium on "Good Practice in Cadastre and Land Registry", an event parallel to Cadastre Expo and also organised by KCSC, was attended by about five hundred colleagues from Korea. These delivered an impressive range of contributions on modern cadastre, geo-data infrastructure, 3D-Cadastre, strategies for integrated land-administration systems, and legal aspects. International contributions focused on land and house investigators supporting cadastral systems in Japan, unified land administration supporting SDI, e-Governance aspects, the role of cadastral systems in a business society (case from Sweden), Cadastre 2014, Innovative Technologies for Cadastre, and the Core Cadastral Domain Model. Speakers addressed an audi­ence numbering no fewer than three thousand from Korea and other Asian countries: professionals, politicians and an impressive number of press representatives. The chair of Commission 7 de-livered the only keynote.

Cadastre Expo, opened by Mr Kong Min Bae, welcomed visitors to its floor for three days. It is one of the biggest international events of its kind.

Andras Ossko
Christiaan Lemmen
Gyula Iva¡n
FIG Commission 7

International Workshop, Uzbekistan

Central Asian countries differ from other parts of the former Soviet Union as a result of history and geographical conditions. Since independence in 1991, they have implemented changes in land policies, property registration, cadastre, and socio-economic development. The "International Workshop Land Policies, Land Registration and Economic Development, experiences in Central Asian Countries" will bring together experience and latest developments together and invited speakers from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries will addresse tenure regimes, successes, failures and lessons learnt. The workshop will be held in co-operation with Goskomzemgeodes- cadastre, DHV in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 31st October to 3rd November 2007.