IIW INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 3

The IIW International Congress was held in Cairo(Egypt) from 29 November to 01 December 2004 in theHelnan Shepheard Hotel.

Over 230 participants, representing 27 countries,attended the Congress.

The Opening Ceremony was chaired by Prof. Dr. AmroSalama, Minister of High Education and ScientificResearch.

After the welcome addresses made by Prof. BahaaZaghloul, Chairman of the Center Metallurgical Researchand Development Institute (CRMDI), Mr. Daniel Beaufils,IIW CEO and Mr. Bertil Pekkari, President of IIW,Mr. Okamoto, President of the Japanese InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) reported on the coopera-tion between Japan and Egypt for the education andtraining of welders.

Finally, Prof. Dr. Amro Salama, Minister of HighEducation and Scientific Research wished success tothis IIW International Congress which was the first oneorganised in Egypt.

The Jaeger lecturer was presented by Mr. Nader Riad.A plaque was presented to Mr. Riad by Mr. Pekkari.

62 valuable papers were presented during this IIWInternational Congress on the following topics:– Welding metallurgy– Welding processes– Accreditation, Certification and Qualification– Filler materials– Health and Safety.Among the countries represented at this IIW InternationalCongress, 16 were non-IIW Member countries (Benin,Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya,Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal,Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe).All of them manifested their interest for IIW and the IIWqualification system.Mr. Pekkari, President of IIW, Mr. Smallbone, PresidentElect of IIW and Mr. Beaufils, IIW CEO took many con-tacts with these representatives, in order to implementa better communication with IIW and to study a futuremembership of these countries.

IIW INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSCAIRO – EGYPT 29 November-01 December, 2004

Welding in the World, Vol. 49, n° 5/6, 2005

Opening Ceremony Chaired by his ExcellencyProf. Dr. Amro Salama, Minister of High Education

and Scientific Research (centre)

Mr. Pekkari, President of IIW presenting his paperMr. Pekkari, President of IIW presenting

Mr. Nader Riad with the Jaeger lecturer plaque

Mr. Nader Riad presenting the Jaeger lecture

4 IIW INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

At the end of the IIW International Congress, the fol-lowing resolution was approved unanimously by the del-egates.

“It is resolved that the Egyptian Welding Committee(EWC) is established jointly by the Academy of ScientificResearch and Technology (ASRT) and the CentralMetallurgical Research and Development Institute(CMRDI).

Objectives of the Egyptian Welding Committee include,but are not limited to, the following:

1) To provide the Egyptian Secretariat and Technicalrepresentatives to liaise with, and participate in, the IIW.

2) To establish the Egyptian IIW Authorized NationalBody (ANB) to enable Egyptian people to obtain IIWqualifications.

3) To assist countries in Africa to establish IIWApproved Training Bodies (ATBS) through the EgyptianIIW ANB so that such countries can have IIW qualifiedpeople.

4) To appoint Egyptian representatives to the IIWTechnical Commissions, select committees, workinggroups etc and encourage greater involvement byEgyptian industry in the work of IIW.

5) To investigate and implement optimum training meth-ods for people to obtain IIW qualifications e.g. distancedelivery.

6) To obtain agreement within IIW for the EgyptianWelding Committee to become an IIW focal point forvarious matters for interested African Countries.”

View of the audience. In the foreground,Mrs Lea D. Ahougbenou – Hounkpe, Minister

of Technical Education and Vocational Training– Republic of Benin

Thanks from IIW to the Egyptian organisers