The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers has established close relationship with engineering institutions/authorities throughout the world. It has signed agreements for reciprocal recognition of professional and technologist qualifications with many engineering institutions/authorities. These include:
Professional Qualifications for Corporate Membership
The British Computer Society
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
China Association for Science and Technology
Energy Institute
Engineers Australia
Engineers Canada
Engineers Ireland
Hong Kong Computer Society
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology
The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining *
The Institute of Measurement and Control
The Institution of Chemical Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Professional Engineers, New Zealand
The National Administration Board of Engineering Registration (Structural)
The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
The Society of Operations Engineers
Technologist Qualifications for Associate Membership
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
The Society of Operations Engineers
* The Institute of Materials and the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy have merged and formed the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining on 10 July 2002
International Engineering Agreements
The Institution is a signatory to the following international engineering agreements:
Washington Accord
The Washington Accord commenced in 1989. It recognises substantial equivalence in the accreditation of academic qualifications in professional engineering. The engineering degrees accredited by the HKIE are recognised by other signatories, and vice versa. Full Signatories to the Washington Accord include Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong-China, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Sydney Accord
The Sydney Accord commenced in 2001. It recognises substantial equivalence in the accreditation of academic qualifications in engineering technology. The higher diplomas and associate degrees accredited by the HKIE are recognised by other signatories, and vice versa. Full Signatories to the Sydney Accord include Australia, Canada, Hong Kong-China, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Engineers Mobility Forum (EMF)
The EMF agreement commenced in 2001. It establishes an international standard of competence for professional engineering and provides a framework for the recognition of experienced professional engineers by representative organisations in the signatory jurisdictions. Each representative organisation is authorised to establish a register for those engineers wishing to be recognised as meeting the generic international standard. Full Members of EMF include Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong-China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and the United States.
APEC Engineer
The APEC Engineer framework was established between the representative organisations of the participating Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies under support of the Government in 1999. It operates in a similar protocol as the EMF agreement. Member economies include Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
Engineering Technologists Mobility Forum (ETMF)
The ETMF agreement was signed in 2003. It provides a framework for the recognition of experienced engineering technologists by representative organisations in the signatory jurisdictions. Each representative organisation establishes a register for those engineering technologists wishing to be recognised as meeting the generic international standard. Full Members of the ETMF include Canada, Hong Kong-China, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Seoul Accord
The Seoul Accord commenced in 2008. It recognises substantial equivalence in the accreditation of academic qualifications in Computing and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-related education. Hong Kong-China joined as a Full Signatory to the Seoul Accord in June 2009 and following that, the computer science degrees accredited by the HKIE would be recognised by other signatories, and vice versa. Other Full Signatories to the Seoul Accord include Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The HKIE is also an affiliated member of World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) and a member of the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP), formerly known as the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (FEISEAP).
International Registers
The Institution has launched the following International Registers under the EMF, APEC Engineer and ETMF agreements:
The International Engineering Alliance was jointly formed by the six international engineering agreements, namely Washington Accord, Sydney Accord, Dublin Accord, EMF, APEC Engineer and ETMF, in strengthening the mutual recognition work of academic qualifications and professional competence of the engineering profession globally.
The six international engineering agreements hold the International Engineering Alliance Meetings (IEAM) biennially to review policies and procedures, consider applications for membership and discuss other issues pertaining to engineering education and qualification development. Between the biennial meetings, IEA Workshops and interim Meetings would also be organised.
IEAM 2011
The IEAM 2011 was held on 13-17 June 2011 in Taipei. The President-elect Ir Dr Chan Fuk-cheung led a delegation that included the Chairman of the Accreditation Board Ir Prof Ng Tung-sang, Chairman of Hong Kong EMF / APEC Engineer Monitoring Committees Ir Kenneth Hsu and Director of Qualifications Mr Albert Chow. In his capacity as Chairman of the Sydney Accord, Ir Dr Alex Chan also participated in the meetings. The President Ir Prof Reuben Chu was joined by Vice President Ir Choy Kin-kuen, the Chairman of Engineers Registration Board Ir Peter Y Wong and the Secretary Mrs Monica Yuen on the occasion and met with representatives from different Accords to re-new the friendships and update each other on the latest developments. The following are some highlights of the meeting outcomes:
Washington Accord
Turkey was admitted as a Full Signatory to the Washington Accord while Bangladesh was admitted as a Provisional Signatory. In addition, Ireland and South Africa were successfully verified as a Full Signatory for another six years. Prof Hu Hanrahan of South Africa and Dr Andrew Wo of Chinese Taipei were elected as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Washington Accord respectively.
Sydney Accord
Hong Kong-China was successfully verified for the next term of six years as a Full Signatory to the Sydney Accord. Prof Robin King of Australia succeeded as Chair of the Sydney Accord while Prof David Holger of the United States was elected as the Deputy Chair.
EMF
Pakistan was admitted as a Provisional Member of the EMF while Australia, Korea and the United Kingdom were successfully verified for the next term of six years as a Full Member of the EMF. Mr Basil Wakelin of New Zealand and Mr Nam Ho of Korea continued to be Chair and Deputy Chair of the EMF respectively.
APEC Engineer
Australia and Korea were successfully verified for the next term of six years as a Full Member of the APEC Engineer while Thailand was verified to extend its status for three years. Dr Za-Chieh Moh of Chinese Taipei has taken up the Chair of APEC Engineer while Mr Seng-Chuan Tan of Singapore was elected as the Deputy Chair.
ETMF
Mr Faried Allie of South Africa and Mr Graham Woodrow of the United Kingdom were elected as Chair and Deputy Chair of the ETMF respectively.
The next IEAM will be held in June 2013 in Seoul, Korea while the IEA Interim Meetings 2012 will be held in Sydney, Australia in June 2012.
General Meeting of Seoul Accord
Following the IEAM 2011, the third General Meeting of Seoul Accord was held on 18-19 June 2011 in Taipei. The Chairman of Accreditation Committee for Computer Science Programmes Ir Prof Wong Wing-Shing joined with the Institution’s delegation to the IEAM 2011 to attend the General Meeting.
At the meeting, an extension of the status of the six Seoul Accord founding signatories, namely Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, until the next monitoring review was approved following a desk-audit exercise. In addition, Prof Joe Turner was re-elected as Chair of the Seoul Accord while ABEEK of Korea was appointed as the Accord Secretariat up to 2013.
The next General Meeting will be held in June 2013 in Seoul, Korea while a workshop will be held in Sydney, Australia in June 2012.
