From 13th to 27th August a group from Kenya consisting of Cyrys W. Ngatia, Chief Land Registrar, Johnstone K. Mwinzi, Chief Valuer , Theresia Munyua, Snr Physical Planning Officer, James Wangombe, Snr Economist, Catherine M. Shiroko, Principal Accounts Controller, Peter M. Gota, Land Surveyor, Fredrick Muraa, Chief Valuer, City Council of Nairobi and David Kamau Kuria, Programme Manager ITDG, visited Swedesurvey. A top management group lead by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Eng. Erastus. K. Mwongera joined the group on the 19th of August. The other members of the delegation were Judith M. Okungu, Commissioner of Lands, Rosemary W. Wachira, Director of Physical Planning, Ephantus M. Mundia. Ass. Director Surveys and Mary M. Kuria, Chief Finance Officer.

Beside Lantmäteriverket and Swedesurvey the delegates also visited the Municipality of Gävle, the Land Register Authority in Norrtälje, Sida, Lantmäteriet, in Stockholm, a bank office of the Nordea bank and a Real Estate Agent of Föreningsbankens fastighetsbyrå in Stockholm. During two days in Lithuania the delegation visited State Enterprise Centre of Registers in Vilnius and its branch office in Kaunas.

The study visit is part of the ongoing Sida sponsored project within the Ministry of Lands and Housing and the aim was to learn from experiences of computerization within Land Administration in Sweden and Lithuania.

Swedesurvey’s Marketing Director Mr. Åke Finnström, is leaving us with effect from 1 st September. He will take up a post as International Co-ordinator at Lantmäteriet (the National Land Survey of Sweden) where one of his responsibilities will be to co-ordinate the activities of the framework agreement between Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and Lantmäteriet. Mr. Finnström will also act as a bridge between Lantmäteriet and Swedesurvey and will still be involved in our overseas activities to some extent.

Swedesurvey, in a joint venture with the Dutch Cadastre International and the Land Registers of Scotland, has been chosen by Sida to deliver Technical Assistance to Support Capacity Building at the State Agency for Geodetic Works (SAGW) in Macedonia. The project started in August 2005 and will continue until July 2008 and the project budget amounts to about 2,7 million EUR. The project will support the land administration reform in Macedonia, which also is financed by a World Bank loan and grants from some other donor countries.

The main output in the project will be the establishment of a training centre for land administration in Skopje, which will be used to provide adequate training for staff within SAGW and for other involved stakeholders. The domestic training will be complemented with a number of international training courses and study tours to different countries in Europe. The project will also support the establishment of an Information Technology Development Unit within SAGW, which will take the lead role in the development of a Macedonian Electronic Cadastre (MEC).

The Swedesurvey Team Leader is Mr Ivan Ford. In additon, Mr Tommy Ljunggren is participating as IT expert, Mr Knut Mattsson as valuation expert and Ms Andja Zimic as project management adviser and as the Swedesurvey Area Manager for the Balkan region, she will also be responsible for the backstopping.

The Administration of Land Affairs, Geodesy & Cartography in the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development (ALAGaC), Mongolia, has embarked on development of a modern national land information system. In order to facilitate the efficient development of the LIS, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) is funding a two year project “Capacity building in Human Resources Development to strengthen the Land Administration Sector” in ALAGaC. Swedesurvey recently signed a contract with ALAGaC for technical support to the project.

On the picture is from the left Dr Baktush ALAGaC and Mr Ola Wennerby from Swedesurvey during the signing ceremony in Ulan Bataar.