Delegation’s Participation in Geo Forum for Asia and the Pacific 2025 & 14th Plenary Meeting UN-GGIM-AP in South Korea
The Geo Forum for Asia and the Pacific and the 14th Plenary Meeting of UN-GGIM-AP (having 56 member countries) were held from 25 to 26 September 2025 in Republic of Korea, hosted by the National Geographic Information Institute (NGII). SoP’s delegation attended this important event which provides a valuable platform for member countries to exchange experiences, demonstrate capabilities and strengthen geospatial knowledge and expertise. A major agenda item of the 14th Plenary was the election of its new Executive Board (2025–2028). For the first time, SoP actively participated by nominating its Deputy Surveyor General as a Member of the Executive Board. It is a matter of great pride that Pakistan has been successfully elected as a member of UN-GGIM-AP’s new Executive Board. UN-GGIM-AP has four Working Groups (WGs) that provide member states a platform to collaborate on key technical issues in advancing integrated geospatial information management. The delegation actively participated in WG discussions and it is noteworthy that, owing to efforts by the Organization, SoP was made a member of the 2nd WG on Integrated Geospatial Information for Effective Land Administration where the Delegation presented SoP’s role in Cadaster Mapping in Pakistan. The Delegation also expressed willingness to join the newly established 5th WG on GeoAI (aligned with the UN-GGIM Strategic Framework 2025–2030). The Plenary Meeting is a vital regional platform for sharing best practices, research, and policy developments in geospatial information management. SoP’s active participation in this Forum is likely to deepen regional collaboration, open new opportunities for technical partnerships and contribute to advancing national geospatial capacity in Pakistan. On the sidelines of the Plenary, the delegation visited KOICA to discuss possible support projects for SoP’s capacity building. The meeting provided useful insights into the process of developing and submitting Concept Notes for future opportunities related to capacity building of SoP. The delegation also held meetings with senior representatives from UN-GGKIC, UNSD and Directors General of geospatial authorities from Iran, China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia to explore avenues for mutual technical collaboration. An important highlight was the meeting with Director General of NGII during which NGII expressed its readiness to sign an MoU with SoP for establishing long-term cooperation aimed at strengthening human resource development and enhancing mapping capabilities of SoP.