October 2020

As part of the new appointment, the Melbourne-based company will launch an innovative meetings algorithm, to match connections between quality buyers and exhibitors from all over the globe.

Through its custom functions, meetings will be matched through a series of criteria from business objectives, industry requirements to budgets and region which will then, be evaluated and summarised as an overall percentage rating of each matched meeting.

The event platform will also be able to measure the engagement of onsite meetings through a rating and review system and manage user experience from end to end.

Silke Calder, AIME event director in endorsing the new partnership:  “We understand the importance of delivering AIME as the industry’s first successful hybrid event. While our dedicated teams are experts in the business of creating meaningful connections, we needed to partner with a tech platform that could seamlessly host the virtual experience for delegates unable to visit Melbourne due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.”

You can register for a virtual gathering at aimegathering.delegateconnect.co  where you can experience the new platform first hand and an overview of the 2021 Hosted Buyer program.

AIME is the first event to kick off the Business Events calendar will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from March 15 to 17, 2021 and be available online March 16 to 26. For more information please visit aime.com.au.

As the Asia Pacific Regional hub for the 59^th International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) Congress, Sarawak has chosen to focus on the impact of the heritage of its people and their rich and diverse history for the education agenda.  This according to the acting chief executive officer of Business Events Sarawak, Amelia Roziman is in line with the congress’s theme of ‘Tribe Legacy ICCA’ of legacies left behind from ICCA congress events.

Sarawak born musician and creative artist, Alena Murang who is of Dayak Kelabit and English-Italian ancestry, has been selected as the keynote speaker. Her session will be on ‘Sarawak Tribal Wisdom’, which has been uniquely crafted to inspire delegates to learn and garner knowledge of tribal values which can be applied to today’s business world.

The multi-talented Alena, has been at the forefront of telling culturally rich stories of the indigenous communities of Sarawak through her music and art. She sees herself as the keeper of stories, as her songs, are oral histories learnt from her elderly relatives of the Kelabit tribe

Musician and story teller Alena Murang, an icon of Sarawak with the sape, a traditional musical instrument.

Being the first female professional sape player and teacher, she draws influence from the genres of the world ranging from rock to folk music combined with her interpretation of traditional indigenous music and songs.

She has performed at numerous festivals and featured in various media worldwide. Alena is also a motivational speaker inspiring her audience in her journey in making cultural heritage and its value of togetherness, and caring for the earth relevant and prominent in today’s urban world.

The hybrid regional hub congress will take place on-site at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) with live-streamed programmes from ICCA’s world congress in Kaohsiung, Taipei from November 1^st to 4^th.

You can get more information on the event at https://events.iccaworld.org/congress2020-kuching-hub/host-destination

Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) announced, a total of 21 bids have been won for conventions and exhibitions and out of which, 19 bids for meetings and incentives and six bids on trade exhibitions. This comes to a total of 46 bids won in the third quarter of 2020.

In terms of exhibitions, MyCEB successfully secured bids from Asian Consumable Appliances and Smart Electronics Trade Expo (ACASE) 2020, Kuala Lumpur International Logistics and Transportation Exhibition (KILAT) 2020 and Asia Fence Expo 2020.

MyCEB has also secured conventions up until the year 2022 which are the 19^th Asian Battery Conference and Exhibition (19ABC), the 16^th World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Congress and Asian Mayor’s Summit on Active Living 2022.

Looking forward to 2024, Kuala Lumpur is set to host the Asia-Oceanian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (AOCRM). Considered to be, one of the most highly acclaimed conferences in the field of rehabilitation medicine, the event gathers an average of 1,000 participants from all around the world.

The Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers (SACEOS) and Suppliers together with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Enterprise Singapore (ES) has introduced, the first event Industry Resilience Roadmap (IRR) on safety measures and best practices  in line, with the gradual resumption of business events.

The Industry Resilience Roadmap has three objectives one is, to help the industry implement best-in-class standards under STB’s Safe Business Events Framework. Second, is to create agile business models with a focus on hybridization and thirdly to develop pathways for professional development in the new way forward.

Apart from providing advice to events, venues and suppliers on the safe management of events in Singapore, the Industry Resilience Roadmap also includes best-in-class practices, a long-term plan for business models, innovative solutions for hybrid events and capabilities development plan to support enterprises and the workforce to survive the pandemic, thrive and emerge stronger.

This will be underpinned by SG SafeEvent Standard which is an industry-led national accreditation programme to be launched later this year. Also by SG Clean a SG SafeEvent Standard certification awarded, as a mark of assurance of Singapore as a safe, trusted and destination for innovative business events.

While the “living” IRR document will be updated to stay current with the evolving situation and prevailing safety and health standards. The first release of Industry Resilience Roadmap or IRR 1.0 focuses on SG SafeEvent Standard and hybridisation.

According to the press release from SACEOS, in development is IRR 2.0 which will expand on the business models innovation together with core capabilities necessary for event enterprises and professionals to pivot successfully.

The 2021 event will be themed, ‘Inventing the Future’ and will take place from April 13 to 14 in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

“We are working on a range of exciting initiatives in the run up to the event, including a regionally focused future trends report which will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Together with the team at Singapore Tourism Board and our venue partners, we are looking forward to delivering a Covid-safe event with the highest quality business opportunities for exhibiting partners and a comprehensive incentive and familiarisation programme for our Hosted Buyers.” This was commented by Michael Jones who is IBTM Asia Pacific event manager regarding the first details of the show.

IBTM Asia Pacific will bring together a high calibre group of international, Asia Pacific and local meeting planners and exhibitors for two days of pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings, education and networking. The event will be under-pinned by IBTM’s sophisticated hosted buyer programme which creates personalised appointment diaries for hosted buyers and exhibitors allowing delegates, to only meet people with whom there’s a good opportunity of doing business.

Visit the new website at: ibtmasiapacific.com.

Dubai World Trade Centre has signed an agreement with Israel Export Institute to facilitate participation of Israeli exhibitors in large scale exhibitions in the UAE by end of the year.  It is estimated that commercial potential from the agreement between UAE and Israel is at about USD 500 million per annum.

The framework of the agreement was created based on: cooperation and participation in international conferences and large scale exhibitions; organising and exchanging business delegations; as well as support of significant business partnership opportunities between the two countries.

It will be facilitated by Israel’s Export Institute and Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs, which are actively engaged in the promotion of Israeli industry following the recent signing of the peace treaty with the UAE. The Israel Export Institute responsible for Israeli participation in international exhibitions will now take on this role for the first time in the Gulf States.

Signing of the agreement is part of a new engagement between the UAE and Israel to further peace and stability in the region through dialogue and cooperation for sustainable development.

“The historic signing of the Abraham Accords agreement has opened new avenues for strengthened collaboration and exchange between the UAE and Israel. It has also established a framework for bilateral trade and economic ties to flourish between both states. Partnerships such as the one between the Dubai World Trade Centre and the Israel Export Institute will have a wide-reaching positive impact, as not only both nations stand to benefit, but so does the wider region, particularly through an inward flow of investment and trade, increased cooperation, knowledge sharing, and large-scale innovation,” said Abdulla bin Touq Al Mari, UAE’s Minister of Economy.

The latest business events performance figures were officially announced by Sarawak Convention Bureau during the recent business events tribal meet in the capital city, Kuching.

It was reported that between January and September this year, Sarawak achieved an estimated of RM106 million on total economic impact.  This amount, has contributed to RM58 million in direct delegate expenditure which enabled the state, to collect tax revenue of RM6.4 million and create 8,480 jobs in various sectors.

From 2020 to 2024, Sarawak will have secured 31 business events amounting to 39,356 delegate days.  This can be attributed to the introduction of the Business Events Planners Incentivised packages.  The packages have also proved its effectiveness with business events cancellations are a low of three cancellations – leaving 95 percent of events ongoing in the business events calendar this year.

According to BESarawak’s acting chief executive officer the bureau, is 68 percent on achieving its target this year and are focusing on business events topics from seven key focus areas.

The seven key areas are urban development, social development and environmental development, reengineering economic growth, rural transformation on agriculture development, service industry and digital economy.

Sarawak also aims at increasing its market share of corporate meetings and incentives segment by at least 20 percent over the next five years in line with the objectives of the Sarawak Economic Action Council.  Currently, Sarawak’s strength lies in conventions with 80 percent of the business derived from associations.