Reported by Sdr.
Clement Tan, Chairman Of G&S Section
Located at the central of Jawa Island,
surrounded by mountains and with the famous active volcano –
Gunung Merapi, this was the place where the 21st annual
Conference of ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO)
was held – Yogyakarta, the “Ancient City” of Indonesia.
The 21st CAFEO was held from 22-23
October 2003, and attracted 307 engineers from the 10 ASEAN
countries, as well as engineers from Japan & Canada. Twenty-nine
participants led by IEM President, Ir. Prof. Abang Abdullah bin
Abang Ali, represented Malaysia. The theme for this year’s CAFEO
was “ASEAN Engineering Network for Enhancing ASEAN Self Supporting
Technology and Industry”.
The Institution of Engineers, Indonesia (IEI)
led by its President Ir. Rauf Purnama hosted the event. The
opening ceremony commenced when the guest of honour, the Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad arrived at
9:30am. In his opening address, he stressed that the respective
engineering institutions in each ASEAN country needed to get
together so as to review and discuss the new concept of ASEAN
network, especially in the engineering sector, for the benefit of
engineering development in ASEAN countries.
The climax of the opening ceremony occurred
when the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisation (AFEO)
conferred the AFEO Distinguished Fellow Award to Dato’ Seri Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad, before his speech. In the Prime Minister’s
message, he praised the ASEAN engineers on their excellent
professional capabilities, which produced goods & constructions of
very high standards that complied with world standards. However,
ASEAN engineers should be encouraged to perform more research and
development (R&D) instead of copying the methods and systems from
other non-ASEAN countries. Dr. Mahathir also stated that Malaysia
was prepared to act as the hub to help pool the available
resources in the region and develop a directory of the experts and
their skills within and outside the region.
He also mentioned that the young engineers
should be encouraged to attain professional status and the quality
of professional engineers within the region should be
standardized. The training of postgraduate engineers should also
be encouraged. One good example he gave is the training provided
by IKRAM (Institut Kerja Raya Malaysia) for and on behalf of the
ASEAN Engineers Register (AER).
Every country then took turns to present its
country’s report. Ir Prof Abang Abdullah shared the development of
the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia as well as the latest
development in Malaysia. He touched on a few current issues such
as Research & Development (R&D), the Engineering Industry and
Engineering Education.
In the meantime, the conference of Young
Engineers of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisation (YEAFEO)
was being held at the same venue. (Refer to report in the Graduate
& Student Section). Parallel technical sessions were also held. A
total of fifty-four papers were presented, which included the
topics: Human Capital Development, Engineering Education, Success
and Non-success Stories of ASEAN Engineering / Industry Firms,
Sustainability of the Agro Industry, Basics of the Development of
the Professional Engineer, Engineering Capabilities, Profile of a
Future ASEAN Engineer, Virtual Library & Information Network.
After the conference was over, it was announced
that the 22nd CAFEO will be held in Myanmar in December
2004.
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