THIS YEAR’S Asia Pacific Irish Business Forum (APIBF), hosted by the Malaysian Irish Business Network, will be held at the Istana Hotel in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on October 25th.
The forum will be held in conjunction with the Asian Gaelic Games, which will bring together an estimated 1,000 players, representing almost 50 teams from around the region.
Established in 2007, the group aims to leverage the GAA network in Asia, and every year has an event at the annual Asian GAA Games in whatever city they are taking place, using the fact that so many Irish are in town for the event.
As in previous years, the forum will take place on the Friday and the Asian Games take place over the weekend. This year they will be held at the Bukit Kiara Polo Club.
The APIBF has been hosted successively in Penang, Malaysia, in 2008, Bangkok in 2009, Hong Kong in 2010 and Seoul last year. Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke at the Dublin forum in Croke Park in July.
The event is being sponsored by financial services firm Fexco, and Dermot O’Shea, executive director of Fexco Holdings and managing director of the group’s merchant services division, said the games and the forum were a great networking opportunity for Irish professionals living and working in the region.
“As a leading global payments provider, the Asia Pacific region is very important to Fexco and we are currently very focused on growing our presence in the region, so we welcome the opportunity to be associated with this event,” he said.
Asian Gulf GAA chairman, Paraic McGrath added: “Kuala Lumpur is the host city this year, is an important regional hub for financial services and will be a key location for Fexco as it continues its expansion in the region.”
