Asia Boating Dialogue 2020: promoting collective thinking

Asia Boating Dialogue 2020 © ABD

Happily, the forthcoming Asia Boating Dialogue (ABD) is attracting a good deal of interest. ABD originated as the Asia Boating Forum, when representatives of the leisure marine industry in various countries got together to compare notes and promote collective thinking over coffee and biscuits at the Singapore Yacht Show.

Fast forward to 2020, and we are no longer jumping on planes at the drop of a marlinespike, but still it’s good to talk. The Hong Kong and Singapore Boating Industry Associations put their heads together and came up with the Asia Boating Dialogue. This will take the form of a webinar split into two separate sessions – 22 and 29 September. Here’s the full schedule:

Session One – India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines Tuesday 22 September 2020 Time: 1600 Singapore Time / 0800 UTC+8

Session Two – China, China (Hainan focus), Hong Kong & Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan Tuesday 29 September 2020 Time: 1600 Singapore Time / 0800 UTC+8

Programme for each Session: Introductions/Opening Remarks Country Presentations Round Table Discussion

Speakers, Asia Boating Dialogue 2020 - photo © ABD

Speakers at each session include some of the leading lights in each country’s industry association, with the Secretary of ICOMIA (International Council of Marine Industry Associations) Udo Kleinitz in the umpire’s chair.

Many of the names will be familiar to you: Aashim Mongia – India Gamini Herath – Sri Lanka Oh Kean Shen – Malaysia Peter Jacops – Thailand Zheng Weihang – China Stuart Hu – China (Hainan) Robin Engel – Indonesia Apa Ongpin – Philippines Lawrence Chow – Hong Kong Darren Oh -Singapore Dr Kim Choong-Hwan – South Korea Sam Do – Vietnam Kenta Inaba – Japan Virginia Chuang – Taiwan YP Loke – Singapore

SBIA chair YP Loke said, “Running the Dialogue as a webinar enables us to reach a wider audience than in previous events. It will engage a new audience who would not normally travel abroad to a boat show. We need to start a conversation about boating in Asia, join the dots between countries and build a shared community with the same goals and aspirations for boating in Asia. Although Covid19 has caused borders in most countries to close, we all need to work with our respective agencies to find ways to re-open borders and revive nautical tourism”.

HKBIA chair & ICOMIA Executive Committee member Lawrence Chow said, “in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Asia Boating Dialogue provides the perfect platform for regional industry leaders to share the current difficulties they are facing and provide ideas for how the industry in Asia can adapt to the post Covid-19 era. It also opens up the opportunity to identify and understand the typical obstacles for growth in Asia. Through discussions, we will get a better insight for the current state of the industry and set the blueprint for recovery in Asia.”

ICOMIA Secretary-General Udo Kleinitz said, “We are pleased to continue supporting this event which ICOMIA initiated in 2015. We want to continue our engagement in Asia, build our base, and help our members promote the boating industry in their countries. This collaboration between two of our Asian members is a particularly welcomed move”.

As of 19 September, 179 attendees from 30 countries are registered for ABD 2020.

For more information and to register attendance (it’s free) please go to asiaboating.org

Asia Boating Dialogue 2020 - Sponsors - photo © ABD