(Pictured: ICCA President James Rees delivers keynote address at ICCA Asia Pacific Summit 2019)
The inaugural ICCA Asia Pacific Summit, held Dec. 5-6 concurrent with BE@Penang, concluded on a high note at the Setia Spice Convention Centre.
The summit, organized by Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Anderes Fourdy and ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter, with the support of Penang State Government and ICCA Malaysia Committee, started out as a grass-root initiative designed by the members, and catered to the members in the region. The two-day summit was attended by 300 delegates from 20 countries and territories.
In his keynote speech, ICCA President James Rees highlighted the importance of ICCA as the leading voice within the meetings industry around the world.
In shaping the future and the value of the international association meetings, Rees pointed out the importance of engaging the association community, exploring new business opportunities and competitive advantages while focusing on the importance of sustainable and effective industry, as meetings have advanced rapidly over the years.
ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter is now the largest chapter in ICCA global membership. The chapter currently has 291 members from 16 countries and territories and covering more than 100 cities in the region. The Asia Pacific Summit would now serve as a platform for members in the region to meet and interact as a chapter. The ICCA Asia Pacific chapter executive committee was fervently committed to have the summit serve as “one voice” representing the Asia Pacific membership and send positive message to the global ICCA community.
“I am delighted to mention that this summit is specifically designed for our region to meet and interact as a chapter outside of the annual ICCA Congress and IMEX, in hopes of fostering better relationships and mutual interactions that would benefit our chapter, as well as to leverage on the growth of the industry,” says Jason Yeh, chairman of ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter.
Besides networking sessions enabling members to bond as a chapter, the summit saw several educational tracks that were carefully designed to benefit members from this region. From research to sustainability, topics were prudently selected and presented by esteemed ICCA Asia Pacific members, sharing their vast experience in the industry with peers.
The host city for ICCA Asia Pacific Summit 2020 will be announced soon.
The ICCA Asia Pacific Regional Office was established on 1 January 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to provide better membership support for Asia Pacific members. As a regional office of the ICCA head office in the Netherlands, this office aims to initiate and organize more ICCA activities in this region to enhance the value of membership for ICCA members. In addition, ICCA Asia Pacific also serves as global research center, dedicated to undertaking more comprehensive research projects for the benefit of members worldwide. For more info, visit http://www.iccaworld.org.
