Hosting PAQS congress good experience for Bruneians

BRUNEIAN quantity surveyors have built strong professional relationships with international professionals through the hosting of the 16th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) Congress.

The two-day conference came to a close yesterday, and the general success of the event was felt by the chairman of the congress organising committee and president of the Association of Surveyors, Engineers and Architects (PUJA). "There is a sense of achievement in organising and through the delivered discussions and technical papers, we feel that we have met the objective in our theme," said president of PUJA, Yang Berhormat Hj Zulkipli Hj Abdul Hamid.

The conference theme, 'Innovating and Sustaining: Challenges and Opportunities', has been selected to provide a platform for professionals and other stakeholders to present, discuss, share and get up-to-date information on the latest trends in quantity surveying.

The president of PUJA explained that they have achieved their objectives of sharing best practices and standards and also networking with professionals across 13 countries. "The networking we have with these countries, and the fact that we know each other professionally and will be seeing each other in the next conferences, is where the benefit has come for us as professionals," said YB Hj Zulkipli.

Apart from international relationships, Hj Zulkipli added that this conference has also strengthened the already close relationship that the national organisation has with the government. "The government has shown us support not just in terms of materials and services, but they have supported this event in sending delegates to this conference and that is very mutually beneficial for PUJA and government agencies," he said.

Sr Ong See Lian, RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Immediate Past Global President, and keynote speaker for the congress said that the conference organised by PUJA was "an excellent one".

"Recognising that PUJA is a very small organisation, but it really thinks big and more importantly it has a big heart," said Sr Ong.

He added that delegates were made to feel welcomed and the efforts that was put into the congress was beyond any foreign delegates' expectations. "I want to say congratulations to the organising committee and to the chair YB Haji Zulkipli and his team," said Sr Ong.

With a lot of the focus being on the changing trends of the profession, YB Haji Zulkipli added that it is important for professionals in Brunei to understand the trends in anticipation to what the future will bring for quantity surveyors.

"We should be able to anticipate and prepare ourselves in how to actually serve that kind of market and demand for the services," he said. He also added that one of the main emphasis of PAQS that has also become a permanent feature of the congress is the involvement of younger professionals who are keen to network.

More than 125 people from foreign countries were in Brunei for the 16th PAQS Congress, with an almost equal amount of local participants. The Brunei Times