Bangkok: where the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group events will be held. Photo Credit: TCEB
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has announced that
the country has won 23 bids for international conferences from October
2022 to September 2023. These are for events that will take place up to
2028. The two biggest among the wins are the 2026 Annual Meetings of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) to be
held in Bangkok. 12,000 delegates are expected.
Another spotlight will be on two other events as they will be the
first to be staged in Southeast Asia – the FIFA Congress 2024 and World
Diabetes Congress 2025. The FIFA Congress is expected to attract 2,000
delegates from 211 countries and the World Diabetes Congress, 10,000
delegates.
14 of the 23 wins are for medical conferences which include the
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress 2024
(8,000 delegates) and World Congress on Pain 2026 (5,000 delegates).
The bids were conceived, prepared and presented by TCEB. Other than
bid strategy, TCEB was responsible for the production of the bid book,
publicity, and securing the backing of the relevant government ministry
through TCEB’s One Ministry, One Convention (OMOC) programme.
The OMOC programme allows TCEB to tap on the resources and support of
a particular government ministry. The programme was instrumental in
securing the Annual Meetings of IMF and WBG, the FIFA Congress and three
global medical conferences, which, other than the World Diabetes
Congress, include the International Society on Thrombosis and
Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress 2024 and World Congress on Pain 2026.
Under OMOC, a relevant ministry will be designated host. The Annual
Meetings of IMF and WBG will, therefore, be hosted by the Ministry of
Finance, the FIFA Congress by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS)
and the medical conferences, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).
TCEB president, Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, said: “Thailand’s
latest wins prove how effective TCEB’s OMOC programme can be when we bid
for global events such as the IMF/WBG Annual Meetings, FIFA Congress
and World Diabetes Congress. We created OMOC as a mechanism to attract
more international conventions to Thailand by extending the support of
the related government ministry.
“Through more targeted collaboration and promotion in related sectors
and agencies, we hope to help convention owners and organisers achieve
breakthrough success when they bring their events to Thailand. We are
pleased to note that Thailand continues to inspire strong trust as a
destination for conventions.”
Other than finance, healthcare, and sports, the 23 bid wins also
include events in the environment, education, digital, and business
management sectors.