| About APIBF |
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The Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum is a unique construction focussed on building connections between & with the GAA Clubs & business groups based in the Asia-Pacific & Gulf Regions. Introduced formally in 2007, the APIBF events bring together Irish business people, people doing business with Ireland & Friends of Ireland in the dynamic Asia-Pacific & Gulf Regions. The early commitment by Dick Spring, FEXCO and former Tánaiste & Minister of Foreign Affairs to travel to Singapore in 2007 to attend the inaugural APIBF enhanced the credibility & prestige of the day-long event. His participation since that time has been a constant support to the voluntary team who organise the annual events. Since 2007, the APIBF has grown in substance & has become a feature of the annual Asian Gaelic Games weekend. It has been hosted successively in Penang, Malaysia (2008), Bangkok, Thailand (2009) & Hong Kong, China (2010), attracting over 1,000 attendees from around the region & from Ireland. An important development in 2011 was the work to reach out to the Irish business community based in Ireland to improve the awareness of Asia, to share experience & to forge connections with the Irish business networks working in the region. The GAA was hugely enthusiastic about the concept & the GAA President Christy Cooney was familiar with the APIBF work through his participation at the APIBF 2010 in Hong Kong. The APIBF Conference at Croke Park on 17 June at Croke Park attracted 300+ delegates from Ireland & Asia with keynote speakers from both regions & including the Tánaiste & Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Eamon Gilmore. A special feature of the half day forum was the active participation of representatives of most of the major business groups and networks in Ireland, including Imelda Reynolds (Dublin Chamber of Commerce), Colin Lawlor (Irish Exporters Association), Danny McCoy (IBEC), Ian Talbot (Chambers Ireland) and Mark Fielding (ISME), together with Ambassadors and trade representatives of a number of Asian countries. Ulster Bank, Enterprise Ireland, PCH and Green IFSC sponsored the event & full details, including copies of the presentations made & photos can be found elsewhere on this website. 2011 also saw some other APIBF spin-off events added to the business calendar in Asia – including sessions in Ho Chi Minh ahead of the South East Asian Gaelic Games & another in Shanghai ahead of the All China Gaelic Games. A further tangible support for Irish business this year has been the publication of the APIBF Business Directory 2011-12 which includes details of Irish business groups and key contacts in the Asia-Pacific and Gulf Regions. This valuable resource for Irish business was supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The 5th annual Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum will be hosted by the Irish Chamber of Commerce, Korea in Seoul on Friday, 14 October, on the eve of the 16th annual Asian Gaelic Games which will take place in Suwon, South Korea on 15 & 16 October, hosted by the Seoul Gaels Gaelic Football Club. The Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum has been run to date entirely by voluntary effort with the generous support of a range of sponsors in particular PCH International and Enterprise Ireland. The Irish Embassies in the region have also been very helpful & active in their support. Special thanks are due to Liam Casey of PCH for his ongoing interest & support. None of this work would be possible without the support of the Irish business groups in Asia-Pacific & the Gulf, GAA Clubs & Asian County Board which have enthusiastically adopted & supported this initiative from the outset. Ní neart go cur le chéile - No strength without unity. |