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It’s industry showtime again in Singapore as the annual TFWA Asia Pacific exhibition and related Gate One2One conference get under way.
Singapore is arguably the perfect venue for a big show such as this. Its efficiency is both legendary and justified; the standards and value of service are superb; and the city goes out of its way to make visitors feel welcome.
TFWA Asia Pacific is also a very well-run show. TFWA now has a well-oiled formula and it’s one that works particularly effectively here. The opening party – or Zen Welcoming Cocktail as it was dubbed – was a marvellously informal event set in the gorgeously stylish outdoor venue of Oosh. (Some familiar industry faces can be seen below enjoying the ambience and the company).
The opening conference on Monday was dominated, we think, by a stunning performance from keynote speaker Linda Yeoh (below), a self-styled “optimistic economist”. More importantly, she was an economist with the rare ability to translate complex subject matter into layman’s language. Never was this more apparent than when she explained the structure, aims and funding of the International Monetary Fund in less than two minutes to a clearly impressed questioner – Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin.
I am departing the show today for Mumbai – more of that in a subsequent Blog – but the exhibition itself gets under way in a couple of hours. It will be interesting to see both visitor and confidence levels. But already, there’s something about this place that might just play an important role in lifting the latter. Let the show commence.