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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
from developing countries, International Congresses in different regions were to feature
prominently over the period from 2006-2010, creating great interest by the nations in
these regions in the benefits of becoming a member of IIW. Some of these new members,
including Nigeria (2006), Tunisia (2007) and Morocco (2009), were to increase significantly
the representation from the African continent, while the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
(2007), Turkey (2008) and Lithuania (2008) strengthened IIW’s bloodlines even further,
making it truly representative of the world at large.
Despite the GFC, the three years from 2008 to 2010 were most
productive in producing highly successful International Congresses, with
three in 2008 including Tianjin in China, two in 2009 including Ajuba in
Nigeria, and four in 2010, with Hammamet in Tunisia being one of the more
exotic places for such a Congress to take place. To further stimulate interest
in Middle Eastern countries, IIW also supported a successful conference in
Damascus, Syria, entitled
Development of Welding Technology in the Arab
World
in January 2009 unaware that the dawn of the ‘Arab Spring’ was not
too far away. The ‘Arab Spring’ did, in fact, lead to Tunisia suspending its
membership of the IAB temporarily in 2011 and the IIW membership of
Libya becoming increasingly uncertain in the same year.
One of the important aspects in attracting new members and the promotion of the
benefits of IIW was the development and implementation of the ‘WeldCare’ programme by
WG-RA in 1996. The programme, utilising the knowledge and experience of WG members,
supported technology diffusion and training in developing countries, including the promotion
and support of networks of national and regional Technology Support and Education and
Training Support Centres. The growth of the South Eastern European Network (SEENet)
IIW Member Countries 2015 shown in red, prospective member countries in grey