Ad Hoc Working Group for Independent Valuation for Commercial Property Rent Review After seeking advice from practitioners, the ad hoc working group held its first meeting on 16 March 2010. Various issues like the existing independent valuer appointment mechanism, difficulties encountered by practitioners, professional fee level, the need in updating the guidance notes were discussed. Should any member wish to express views on the subject, please kindly forward the suggestion/comment to our Hon Secretary Mr Tony Wan whose email address is: [email protected] Membership Reciprocity with the China Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (CIREA) The working group met with CIREA in Beijing on 8 April 2010. CIREA concurs with our wish to organize the second membership reciprocal arrangement. Both are prepared to accomplish this task within 2010. Initially, it was agreed to hold the relevant training and examination in late Autumn 2010. After reaching consensus on the application requirements and logistics, we shall invite formal application from members. Further details will be announced in the HKIS website. Joint GPD & PDD Fellowship Dinner General Practice Division and Planning and Development Division held a joint fellowship dinner on 18 March 2010 at the World Trade Centre Club with great success. We were honoured to have our President, General Council Office Bearers and other Divisional Chairs joining the dinner. In a relaxed atmosphere, members exchanged views on future of the divisions, institute and the industry with the senior and council members. All attendees had a joyful night. Lands Department Practice Note on Revitalization of Industrial Buildings In response to the Lands Department Draft Practice Note No. 1/2010 on the application for (a) special arrangement lease modification (or land exchange) for redevelopment of an industrial lot; or (b) special waiver for conversion of an entire existing industrial building. After collecting practitioners’ views and opinion, the General Council prepared and submitted an advisory letter to the Development Bureau and the Lands Department. It is our wish that these suggestions and views would help to smoothen the implementation of the scheme. The FIG nternational Congress In April 2010, the Institute sent a delegation to attend the FIG International Congress held in Sydney. The representatives from our Division were Francis Ng and Lawrence Pang, being the Chairman and Vice Chairman. They met with delegates from countries all over the world and attended seminars particularly organised by Commission 9 which took care of the Property Valuation interest of the profession. Mr Ng and Pang took interest in particular in the presentations on Property Taxation, Environmental and Financial Aspects in Valuation, Compulsory Purchase and Compensation, Real Estate Market and Valuation Methods. The delegates also took the opportunity to visit our reciprocal Australian Property Institute (API) and held a short discussion with their National Director, Mr Grant Warner, President, Mr Robert Hecek and immediate past President, Gregory Preston, to exchange ideas on the surveyors, particularly the valuers’ practice both in Hong Kong and in Australia. We expect this meeting will pave the way forward for more cooperation and understanding between the two Institutes in the coming future. In the meantime, Mr Lawrence Pang is reviewing the presentation materials that we attended to during the visit. He will prepare a CPD talk on Comparative Practices on Compulsory Purchase and Compensation in the western countries possibly in this coming June. This CPD event will be jointly organized by GPD and PDD. CPD Events On 18 March, Mr Phemey Pon of Centaway Property Asset Management Limited, gave a talk on "How surveyors can apply finance and stock market knowledge in daily works to become a better professional?" He shared with the audiences his valuable real life experiences on successes Hong Kong. Professor Daniel Chan of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University then continued to illustrate the importance of harmonious quality between health and sustainability in buildings. He concluded the seminar with the demonstration on the use of Electronic Operation and Maintenance platform in building engineering management. Last but not the least, Mr Karl Lung, an expert on both wines and investment, delivered a talk on “Wine Knowledge for Business Occasions and Wine Investment” on 15 April. He gave the audience a brief idea of the wine world, wine knowledge, the related table manner and potential investment opportunities. The talk was very impressive. All attendees had a good insight on the topic. The three CPD events were successfully held. Whilst we would express our wholehearted thanks to the speakers, we would also thank for the time and effort of various organizers including but not limited to Simon Poon, Kason Cheung and David So.