AFP
18 Oct 06
A major annual mobile telecommunications conference and exhibition will be moved to Macau from Singapore next year to bring participants closer to the booming markets of China, Japan and South Korea.
The GSM Association said in a statement obtained Tuesday its flagship 3GSM World Congress Asia will be held at the new Venetian hotel and convention center in Macau from November 12-15, 2007.
Singapore has hosted the event for three years.
GSM Association chairman Craig Ehrlich said the move is aimed at bringing the event closer to the Chinese market, as well as to South Korea and Japan.
“Chief among (the reasons) is the need to innovate and move with the rapidly changing dynamics of the mobile industry in Asia, in particular, the importance of being closer to China, Korea and Japan, the technology and innovation powerhouses of the region,” Ehrlich said.
“As a gateway location to northern Asia, Macau is rapidly becoming the entertainment centre of the region, with purpose-built facilities that have the potential to help achieve our vision of developing and extending this, the most important mobile event in Asia.”
Singapore, which is also boosting its reputation as a conventions and exhibitions center, is hosting the event for the last time this week.
In May, Singapore awarded the rights to build its first casino to Las Vegas Sands, largely due to its proposal to strengthen the city-state’s position as a hub for meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibition, known in the industry as MICE.
The Las Vegas Sands project, to be called Marina Bay Sands, will feature 100,000 square metres (1.08 million square feet) of MICE space to accommodate up to 52,000 people, making it one of the largest such facilities in Asia.
The GSM Association is a global trade group representing 700 GSM mobile phone operators in 215 countries. In addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the association’s initiatives as key partners.
The association’s primary goals are to ensure universal access, especially by people in the rural areas, to mobile phones and wireless services to boost national economies while giving business opportunities to telecom operators and their suppliers.