ATTENDING THE 2024 IAPC PENANG REGIONAL MEETING
The International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) is a global community of leading political professionals dedicated to making democracy work around the world. The community has members from more than 35 countries, and are growing every year.
A few days ago, As Adviser to The Aroca Group, I was invited to and attended a conference, specifically the 2024 IAPC Regional Meeting, which was held at the G Hotel Kelewai, in Penang, Malaysia.
Conference organisers included The Aroca Group and the sponsors International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC), CT Group, Klink Campaigns, Inc., Cygnal, and local Malaysian partner - AMCHAM Malaysia (American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce).
It was a great conference, where a fantastic cohort of panel speakers, ranging from political consultants to private investors, journalists and politicians, provided their insights during seminars on the following topics pertaining to the geopolitical and economic landscape of Asia, in particular and beyond:
State of Play - Geopolitical landscape in ASEAN
Geopolitical landscape in ASIA – China and India Focus
US election update
UK and EU election wrap up and implications
Social media playbook in elections (case studies)
AI and public policy
Navigating business and politics in uncertain times
Ultimately, this year’s conference was a packed agenda and the over 50 participants heard interesting and frank conversations in the aforementioned seminars. Participants, including myself, also had a great time networking, enjoying the amazing food and sites Penang has to offer.
It was a pleasure to support and be part of this year’s IAPC Regional Meeting in Penang.
A special thank you to Ozan Ibrisim, Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Aroca Group, for inviting me to the conference.
Group photo of conference attendees, including myself (in the blue button shirt, in the back row, seventh person from the left).
Yang Berhormat Tuan Sim Tze Tzin, Member of Malaysian Parliament for Bayan Baru and Former Deputy Minister for Agriculture and I, just before his interview for the session Navigating business and politics in uncertain times.
From left to right, veteran journalist Rishaad Salamat (formerly with Bloomberg), interviewing Yang Berhormat Tuan Sim Tze Tzin, for the session Navigating business and politics in uncertain times.
Panel members (from left to right), Adib bin Zalkapli (Public Affairs Consultant); Chris Argent (Head of Sustainability, Syngenta); Rina Neoh (Co-founder, Ficus Venture Capital); David Imber (Principal, David Imber Advisory); and Panel Moderator, Dato’ Siobhan Das (Executive Director, America-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)), conducting a panel session on Navigating business and politics in uncertain times.
Panel members (from left to right), Panel Moderator, Erdem Koch (Communications Specialist); Barrett Bingley (Head of Growth Partnerships APAC, The Economist); Alexander Tarascio (Director of Policy and Political Strategy, Cygnal); and David Imber (Principal, David Imber Advocacy), conducting a panel session on, Social media playbook in public policy and elections.
Panel members (from left to right), Malik Abdul Anwar Deen (Managing Director, CT Group); Roger Collantes (CEO, Asian Institute of Digital Transformation); Panel Moderator, Ariel Tan (S Rajaratnam School of International Studies); and Ben Suffian (Co-founder, Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research), conducting a panel session on, State of Play - Geopolitical landscape in ASEAN.
Conference attendees listening to panel speaker, Malminderjit Singh (Public Affairs Consultant), conducting online his insights for the panel session on State of Play - Geopolitical landscape in ASEAN.
Ozan Ibrisim, Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Aroca Group, along with being one of the chief organisers of the 2024 IAPC Regional Meeting in Penang, conducting the closing remarks of the conference.