Wellington, July 23 NZPA - A Hastings company says its success in winning a major contract to survey the border between the oil-rich nations of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait recognises its technological capability in aerial surveying and mapping.

"The award of this major contract recognises the pre-eminence of NZ Aerial Mapping Ltd (NZAM) and it's derived from 74 years in the business," said the company's chairman Mohammed Hanno.

NZAM has operated in the Middle East and Africa for several years, completing projects in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sudan, Benin and Sierra Leone.

The company's managing director, Mark Roberts, said in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -- where the contract was signed on Tuesday -- that it was a team effort with construction company Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons Company (MAK Group), and had the help of an independent adviser, a former New Zealand Surveyor-General, Bill Robertson.

NZ-based Explorer Graphics Ltd will help with the map-making and Genesys International Corp Ltd (based in India), will help make precise measurements from aerial photographs, while ground surveying will be carried out by UK-based Merrett Survey Ltd, which has previously worked with Dr Robertson and the NZAM project manager on United Nations border projects.

The contract was let by a joint Saudi Arabia-Kuwait technical committee, which told the Kuwait News Agency that the it required maps drawn according to extremely accurate standards.