Place Borneo, a professional congress organiser (PCO) based in Sarawak, recently became an accredited IAPCO (The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers) member, making them the first member from East Malaysia.
Mona Abdul Manap, co-founder and CEO of Place Borneo, said she received the membership approval in February, after going through the extensive reviewing process which included an event audit by one of IAPCO’s council members, Jason Yeh. Yeh is also the CEO and founder of Taiwan-based GIS Group.
During the audit, Yeh visited Place Borneo’s head office in Kuching, Sarawak, and also audited the ASEAN Food Conference held in October 2023, which Place Borneo managed as the PCO.
Mona expressed: “We are committed to delivering world-class standards for every congress we produce, and the IAPCO accreditation validates this commitment. By benchmarking ourselves against top PCOs worldwide, we ensure that our processes align with international best practices while being tailored for local contexts.”
She added that as an IAPCO-accredited member, Place Borneo is now bound by the standards of service demanded by the international industry, where deviations can result in a penalty or termination.
“We will work closely with national and state convention bureaus for bids and having an IAPCO member enhances the destination’s or local host’s capability to produce an international-scale congress, from the bid committee’s perspective,” she added.
Anderes Fourdy, based in Kuala Lumpur, is the other PCO in Malaysia recognised by IAPCO.
