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You are here: HomeIPIM News[2019/03/15] Macao MICE Industry Collaborates with IPIM & Successful Bid for the UFI APAC Meeting 2020

[2019/03/15] Macao MICE Industry Collaborates with IPIM & Successful Bid for the UFI APAC Meeting 2020

The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) joined hands with local MICE sector and successfully bid for the UFI Asia Pacific Conference 2020. It is the second time for Macao to host this event after it was first staged in Macao in 2008. The UFI Asia Pacific Conference organiser acknowledges that Macao’s MICE industry has been improving in quality with its peripheral facilities being constantly enhanced over the last decade.

The Acting President of IPIM Ms Irene Va Kuan Lau and representatives of Macao’s MICE sector attended the UFI Asia Pacific Conference 2019 – themed Facing the Future – in Japan from 14 to 15 March. Previously, IPIM formed a bidding team together with UFI members in Macao, including the Macau Fair & Trade Association, the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association, Nam Kwong (Group) Company Limited, Nam Kwong International Conference & Exhibition Co., Ltd, and the Venetian Macao, in order to bid for the UFI Asia Pacific Conference 2020. Through the joint endeavour of Macao’s different sectors, the city is built into an ideal location for hosting conferences. This solid foundation, together with months of hard work and meticulous planning of the bidding team, brought in the gratifying result – at the final session of this year’s UFI Asia Pacific Conference, the President of UFI announced that the UFI Asia Pacific Conference 2020 will be staged in Macao.

The organiser chose Macao again to be the stage for the conference based on two reasons – Macao is crafting itself to be “One Centre (World Centre of Tourism and Leisure), One Platform (Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform)” and Macao’s MICE sector has grown qualitatively over the last decade. Since this event was held in Macao in 2008, the peripheral software and hardware facilities have been enhancing. According to the statistics previously published by UFI, Macao was the one of the best performing exhibition markets in Asia over the past five years.

The bidding team is excited about the result, since UFI is one of the most representative associations in exhibition area worldwide and it gathers event managers and professional exhibition organisers from all around the world. The successful bid is believed to put impetus to the continuous development of Macao’s MICE sector. The bidding team will start the preparation for the event and work in line with the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The team is planning to enrich the agenda of the UFI Asia Pacific Conference 2020 with elements related to the Greater Bay Area, by arranging site visit to conference and exhibition facilities in GBA cities for event attendees, further diversifying the experience for attendees.

During this year’s conference, Macao MICE delegation took the chance to meet with nearly 300 influential UFI members and international exhibition elites from all parts of the world. It allowed the delegation to update themselves with the latest developments of sector while exposing to the world the advantages of Macao’s exhibition and conference facilities and IPIM’s “One-stop Service” for Bidding MICE and Support. It also allowed Macao’s exhibition industry to internationalise itself and gain international exposure.

The UFI Asia Pacific Conference is held in different regions in Asia every year, with the aim of encouraging Asian MICE industry to catch up with the latest developments of in the regional and international exhibition sector, and promoting the convention and exhibition industry by allowing exchange with exhibition-related international organisations. In addition, as the Macao SAR Government has been striving to nurture the development of the MICE sector by keeping pro-actively co-operating with the sector in recent years, Macao’s signature events are now growing at a steady pace, with eight local branded events approved by UFI. These events involve a vast array of areas, including trade and investment, franchise, environmental protection, automobile, yacht and aviation.

IPIM’s Acting President Ms Irene Va Kuan Lau delivers speech at the conference

IPIM’s Acting President Ms Irene Va Kuan Lau delivers speech at the conference

Group photo of Macao UFI Members at the UFI Asia Pacifc Conference in Tokyo 2019

Group photo of Macao UFI Members at the UFI Asia Pacifc Conference in Tokyo 2019