WIA Report On The 15th IARU Region 3 Conference, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 3, 15th Triennial Conference was held on 5 - 9 November 2012, hosted by the Vietnam Amateur Radio Club (VARC) in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Viet Nam. Geoff Atkinson VK3TL and Peter Young VK3MV attended as WIA Delegate and Observer.

Some highlights of the Conference were:

Agreement for future funding for IARU R3 next triennium.

Agreement for a Michael Owen VK3KI Award associated with IARU HF Contest.

Appointment of Geoff Atkinson VK3TL as one of two new IARU Directors.

Open discussion between member societies on emergency communication experiences, and how to deal with local administrations. The WIA and NZART experiences were shared openly.

The Conference opened on Monday 5th November. Following the passing away of the former Chairman Michael Owen VK3KI in September, the meeting observed a minutes silence in Michael’s memory .

The Conference was opened by the Chairman of VARC Mr Nguyen Minh Duc 3W2REH. Local officials Mr Lee Manh Ha Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee and Mr Nguyen Van Thu Deputy Manager Radio Frequency Management Department and Director of the Centre for Regional Frequency Management 2 of the Ministry of Telecommunications of Viet Nam warmly welcomed everyone to HCMC.

The conference saw participation with a record number of 16 societies in person and one by proxy. Also attending were the IARU President Tim Ellam, from Region 1 President Hans Timmerman PB2T and Secretary Dennis Green ZS4BS and from Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro YV5AM and Secretary Ramon Santoyo XE1KK.

Terry Carrell ZL3QL from New Zealand was appointed the Conference Chairman.

Two Working Groups were formed:

WG1 - Policy matters that included education, training, development of amateur radio and international and regional conferences involving radio administrations

WG2 - Operational and Technical Matters, including emergency communications, the IARU R3 Award and band plans.

The Finance Committee working group was attended by all 16 delegates.

A total of 61 documents were discussed by the Working Groups and recommendations were then submitted to the conference.

A major item for consideration was the possible increase in subscriptions as the current subscription rates had just about balanced the expenses of the region without generating a reserve balance or covering inflation.

The conference debated this issue extensively and voted for an increase of 20% over the current IARU Region 3 subscription rates.

The WIA and NZART had submitted resolutions for increasing the number of directors from the present five to either six or seven to provide greater representation from societies, and the Director resources to be able to work on the region strategic plan. It was agreed by the conference to increase the number to six.

Attendance at APT/APG meetings is vital to the build-up for WRC 15, and the budget has provided for the region to be adequately represented.

Steps will also be taken to modernize the IARU Region 3 website.

The Conference accepted a proposal from WIA to sponsor and implement an annual award in memory of the late Michael Owen, VK3KI. It is to be awarded to the highest Region 3 individual score in the annual IARU HF Contest. The WIA will fund and present a suitable trophy each year.

Following the decision of conference to elect six directors, six nominations were received and declared elected, unopposed:

Peter Lake ZL2AZ

Joong Guen Rhee HL1AQQ

Shizuo Endo JE1MUI

Geoff Atkinson VK3TL

Wisnu Widjaja YB0AZ

Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN

The Directors then elected Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN as their Chairman, which was then endorsed by the conference.

Katsumi (Ken) Yamamoto JA1CJP was returned unopposed as Secretary. The auditor was also reappointed.
Most Regional Coordinators were reappointed. The Conference appointed Onno W Purbo YC0MLC to the vacant EMC Coordinator's position due to the resignation of Chang HL3QVU. The EMR Coordinator's position remains vacant after the passing away of Keith Malcolm, VK1KM.

The re-elected and two new Directors of Region 3 met after the conference, on 10 November, to prepare for the next triennium of work.

One invitation and presentation was received from ORARI to host the 16th Regional Conference of IARU Region 3 at Jogjakarta in Central Java, Indonesia in late 2015. The conference adopted the motion to hold the next conference in Indonesia.

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