Business events pick up pace in the Philippines

International business events are returning to the Philippines as the country reopened her borders and permitted venue operations at full capacity since a couple of months ago.

“Event suppliers and organisers are starting to be confident enough to start investing in local events,” said Walid Wafik, senior vice president of SM Hotels and Convention Center, whose seven convention centers are all allowed to operate at full capacity.

Local business events are seeing more international participation; SMX Manila pictured

Wafik told TTGmice that although 90 per cent of events at SMX Convention Center Manila are local activations, they draw many international exhibitors.

While there are no international events in the immediate future, some enquiries are emerging.

Ex-Link Events business organiser, Orly Ballesteros, expressed intentions to “implement projects we suspended because of lockdown and capture more clients eager to be in the Philippines for their events”.

Angel Ramos Bognot, president, Afro Asian World Events president, confirmed that the first Global Women Empowerment Summit, postponed from last year, will be held for 12 days from May 29 to June 9 in Manila, Bohol, Cebu and Davao.

Enrique Florencio, new secretary general of Association of Development Financing Institutions of Asia Pacific, said ADFIAP’s 4th annual meeting will be held in Manila this October.

Among the events with foreign participation this year are the 4th Asian Defense and Security, Crisis and Disaster Management Exhibition and Conference starting April 27 and ending April 29; Philconstruct Manila in November, which adopted a hybrid format over the last two years; and Philconstruct in Clark in June.

Sponsored Post