Significant role to play
ON May 7, the Sunday Morning Post published an article which said that, 'Local professional bodies have begun moves to break their links with Britain in the run up to 1997'.
There was no mention of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (the HKIE), but with over 6,250 fully qualified professional engineers and a total membership of almost 13,500 it is probably the largest single professional group in Hong Kong.
The HKIE's links with the British engineering institutions are strong and we have no intention of breaking them.
We also have links with the major engineering bodies in the US, Australia, New Zealand, in the Southeast Asia region generally and we have very strong links with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), and many of its branches, building on a relationship which started in 1978.
As a qualifying body for professional engineers the HKIE has developed its own system for training and assessment which is independent of British, or any other, qualifying bodies.
Being based on the British system its qualification standard is high and this is recognised by various agreements for the reciprocal recognition of qualifications, currently in place with most of the major, single discipline, engineering institutions in Britain, and with the multidisciplinary Institution of Engineers of Australia.
In addition the HKIE has been involved with in-depth discussions with the Federation of Engineering Societies of CAST on the recognition of qualifications since 1992. Several years ago the HKIE set itself the task of qualifying to a high standard but on the basis of a level playing field.
There is movement towards greater use of the Chinese language to enhance communication generally, but the basic facts are that engineering is an international profession and that Hong Kong is an international city.
In these days of technology transfer and increased mobility the concept of 'the International Engineer' is very real and Hong Kong's engineers have a significant role to play, being based in the midst of one of the most rapidly developing parts of the world. The HKIE aims to help them and considers that independence and widespread international recognition are the means to do so.
JOHN BOYD Secretary and Director General, HKIE
