Borders: the Republic of the Congo calls on technical expertise from IGN France International This project envisages accompanying the Congolese authorities step by step in their meetings with other border commissions from neighbouring countries PARIS, France, September 23, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ -- The Ministry for Home Affairs and Decentralisation of the Republic of the Congo has called on IGN France International (http://www.ignfi.com) to accompany them in their meetings with the border commissions of neighbouring countries.   The project officially started on 2 September 2015 with the launch meeting held in Brazzaville and is expected to last for one year. An exact knowledge of their land is an essential element for any country in all planning and security policies, whether for the internal security of its inhabitants, economic security to conserve natural resources or border security. This knowledge enables a country to avoid confrontation caused by territorial claims and conflicts arising from the occupation of land, to be in control of human and asset flows, to fight against clandestine immigration and illicit traffic, such as, in particular, animal poaching.   Despite its essential nature, the question of “borders” is still a source of problems for the governments involved.  These problems can take various forms:    It is within this context that IGN France International, the IGN France subsidiary for exporting geographical and forest information from the French institute, will contribute its technical expertise to the National Border Commission of the Congo. Geographical information effectively provides the members of the National Border Commissions and the Ministries entrusted with following up on and determining the outlines of borders with detailed and reliable information, compatible with topographic GPS studies, essential for negotiations.   We should not forget that IGN had local offices in Africa (Cameroon, Congo, Mali, Niger, Senegal etc.) when these countries became independent, and still holds a significant number of original documents and aerial slides from the old French possessions in Africa in the National Photograph Library. The documents are gradually being returned to these countries in a dematerialized format. They are extremely useful for comparing the situation on the ground at the time when current maps were drawn up to the situation encountered at the time of research. This project envisages accompanying the Congolese authorities step by step in their meetings with other border commissions from neighbouring countries and is expected to come to an end in September 2016.   It includes the following activities: Defining a country’s borders enables it to avoid “blurred” areas where national sovereignty cannot be fully applied and contributes to providing state representatives with the means to enforce current regulations aimed at protecting both the country’s citizens and its resources.    Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of IGN France International.Press Contact:  Aude ARESTE LAMENDOUR alamendour@ignfi.fr - + 33 1 42 34 56 56 About IGN France International Since 1986 IGN France International (http://www.ignfi.com) has been the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information of France’s (IGN) subsidiary for international matters. Over the years it has become an indispensable interlocutor in its fields of intervention: geographic information (acquisition, treatment, modelling) and geographic information systems (installation and integration). It is now acknowledged all over the world for its know-how and expertise. It takes part in all kinds of projects in the following sectors: § cartography § real estate § the environment/sustainable development § agriculture … In the field of borders In 2010 and 2011 IGN France International defined the land border and delimited the offshore border lines between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. In order to bring this project to a successful conclusion, the company was supported by the competences of various IGN France services and took advantage of their expertise in numerous fields such as geodesics, levelling, acquiring and handling satellite images, the production of orthoimages and 2D input, as well as the production of land and marine maps. For further information about the projects delivered by IGN France International please visit www.ignfi.com