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Eight months after announcing an ambitious global strategy to support the organization’s new vision to build a rich global meetings industry community, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) announced the opening of its fourth office worldwide.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference held by MPI and the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau (SECB) at the Sheraton Towers Singapore. The event was sponsored by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
The Asia-Pacific office, based in Singapore, will complement MPI’s global presence that currently includes its global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, USA, a Canadian office in Toronto, Ontario, and a Europe, Middle-East and Africa office in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.
“An office in Asia-Pacific will enable our members who are currently doing business in this thriving region to enjoy the same community connections that they already enjoy in other parts of the world,” says Bruce MacMillan, CA, MPI president and CEO. “Singapore’s regional hub position, long-term expertise in the meetings and events industry and multi-cultural workforce, provides the perfect location for our new management structure. Our goal is also to expand our relationships in the region, and explore ways in which MPI can deliver its value propositions within the Asian meetings and events industry.”
MPI also announced the appointment of Michael Tay as Director of Operations, Asia-Pacific. Tay is a native Singaporean, with an extensive background in marketing. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Las Vegas, Singapore campus teaching MICE. He earned his MBA from Warwick Business School, UK and is fluent in English and Chinese (Mandarin), including two Chinese dialects. The newly-staffed office enables MPI to provide its nearly 23,000 members, of meeting and event professionals and industry suppliers, global access to increased knowledge, rich connections and abundant marketplace opportunities in a fast-growing region of the meeting and events industry. “The opening of this office in Singapore represents a critical step in furthering MPI’s globalization as well as in supporting Singapore’s vision to be the key “Knowledge Exchange Capital of Asia”, connecting knowledge with business,” says Michael Tay, MPI’s new Director of Operations, Asia-Pacific. “To reinforce this commitment, I look forward to collaborating closely with the SECB team at the creation of the first pan-Asian meetings and events education conference in Singapore in the fall of 2008.”
“The Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, a group of the Singapore Tourism Board, warmly welcomes MPI’s new office in Singapore. MPI’s Asia office brings us closer to our goal of attracting more MICE International Organisations (IOs) to set up offices in Singapore. MPI, with its unwavering commitment to professional development will add impetus to our efforts to develop Singapore’s meetings and events industry players’ skills and expertise, further elevating our position as a premier business travel and MICE destination. MPI is well-poised to tap into the growing Asia-Pacific MICE market with its new Asia office, as Singapore is a strategic nexus for MPI members to expand their business networks, and find new platforms to exchange knowledge in the Asia-Pacific region. MPI’s presence in Singapore will galvanise our role as a knowledge hub drawing meetings professionals from all over the world for the exchange of ideas and business opportunities,” said Mr Aloysius Arlando, Assistant Chief Executive, Business Travel and MICE Group, Singapore Tourism Board.
MPI anticipates hosting a Professional Education Conference-Asia (PEC-Asia) in Singapore in 2008. PEC-Asia will be a highly creative conference showcasing new concepts, educational delivery systems and marketplaces. This new conference will focus on the Asian meetings and events industry, targeting meeting professionals from all over the world who conduct business within region.
