PENANG has been selected as the first city to host the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit 2019, to be held from December 5-6.
The Malaysian island state beat 11 rival destinations to secure the new event, which will be organised by the International Congress and Convention Association’s regional leadership,
The two-day event will be hosted by Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau and My Meeting Place @Anderes Fourdy, a Malaysia-based PCO and business events consultancy.
Jason Yeh chair of the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter said Penang “prevailed in the face of stiff competition from a strong field of bidders”.
“We received 12 bids in total, and all 12 destinations delivered impressive bidding documents that showcased each destination’s ingenuity and unique potential for business, as well as their organisation’s institutional capacity to hold this event.
“It was a close call between the bidding destinations and a very tough decision to make,” Yeh said.
“The hosting of the summit will provide a platform to foster wide-ranging efforts in terms of member-to-member partnership for the advancement of ICCA Asia-Pacific meetings community. We hope every ICCA member in the region will come together and join us for this two-day, community-driven summit.”
Held for the first time, the Asia Pacific Chapter summit is an initiative by ICCA Asia Pacific members to bring members together, not only for knowledge and networking, but also to discover potential partnership and business opportunities among across the region.
Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO of the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau, said the summit would be held in conjunction with BE@Penang, Malaysia’s largest business events conference.
“The combination of the ICCA AP Summit being held in Penang together with BE@Penang is a great correlation to further educate and encourage the strong bond within the business events industry. This successful initiative was supported by all ICCA Malaysia members who shared our vision: To create an important benchmark for the summit to achieve its objectives.
Gunasekeran said Penang would “create a lasting impression with its authentic, multi-experience liveliness… and remarkable hospitality factors”.
Fu Kei Cheong, co-founder of Anderes Fourdy, said: “The bid win with over 11 of our colleagues in Asia Pacific is indeed a great testament to our collaboration and trust between PCEB and AF. We are very thankful that ICCA Malaysia members’ support has been overwhelming. It is our mission now to showcase what Penang has to offer for the inaugural summit.”
Other cities which made bids to host the summit were Bandung, Bangkok, Colombo, Haikou, Huzhou, Incheon, Manila, Quy Nhon, Singapore, Xiamen and Yokohama.
