Penang, Malaysia - Penang will become the host city to host the inaugural ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit 2019, to be held from December 5-6, 2019.

The official announcement was made by the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Chair, Mr. Jason Yeh: “We are delighted to congratulate Penang as host of the first-ever ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit and the bid team for having prevailed in the face of stiff competition from a strong field of bidders.”

“We received twelve bids in total, and all twelve 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. We would like to thank all destinations for their marvellous work and enthusiasm and encourage them to bid for a future ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit.”

He continued: “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.”   

The ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit will be organised by the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter and co-hosted by Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau and My Meeting Partner @ Anderes Fourdy. Held for the very first time, the Asia Pacific Chapter (APC) Summit is a grassroots project initiated by the ICCA Asia Pacific members, with an aim to be a Summit of the AP members, by the members, for the members. It will bring members together, not only for knowledge and networking, but also to discover the latent possibilities for partnership and business opportunities among themselves and within the region.

Mr. Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO of the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau, said: “We are honoured and humbled to be the chosen destination to host the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit 2019. Penang is delighted to welcome fellow ICCA members to the summit, held in conjunction with Malaysia’s largest Business Events conference, BE @ Penang. 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.”

“We are confident that Penang will create a lasting impression with its authentic multi-experience liveliness-in-a-city and remarkable hospitality factors. We look forward to welcoming the delegates in December, and we are certain that they will have a constructive, fun, engaging and an ‘Experiences Unfiltered’ time in Penang!”  

Mr. Fu Kei Cheong, CMP, Founder, Anderes Fourdy, in association with Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau teamed up to produce the winning bid, 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 submitted their proposals to host the Summit were Bandung, Bangkok, Colombo, Haikou, Huzhou, Incheon, Manila, Quy Nhon, Singapore, Xiamen and Yokohama.

The Chapter will call for bids for the 2020 edition later this year.

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About ICCA Asia Pacific Regional Office

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 organise 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 Centre, dedicated to undertaking more comprehensive research projects for the benefit of members worldwide.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Name  : Ms. Margaret Lu

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