ASIA - An exhibition and conference targeting the humanitarian and disaster relief industry is heading to Bangkok for the first time next year.
The Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) is being organised by Aid and Trade Limited and Impact Exhibition Management, and will run at the Impact venue from 30 to 31 January 2013. Its headline sponsor is Thailand-based RMA Group.
The event is targeting NGOs, governments, intergovernmental organisations, aid agencies and the United Nations and will focus on best practices, key issues in aid and international development, new technologies and services and fostering partnership.
Features include an exhibition, along with a conference area with up to 20 panel discussions. It will also include workshops concentrating on operational topics, plus an interactive zone for exhibitors.
The organiser said key themes are cross-Asia cooperation, rapid disaster response, local empowerment and responsible procurement.
AIDF comes off the back of the first International Aid and Trade event launched in Geneva, Switzerland in 2006, which relocated to Washington in 2009 and held in conjunction with NGO group InterAction.
The event was rebranded to reflect the increasing focus on long-term sustainable development and aid and disaster relief, its organiser said. While Washington is the centre of humanitarian funding and policy decisions, Bangkok is a centre of operational activity and international support.
“We are encouraged by the level of support we have received in launching our first ever Asia-Pacific event,” AIDF event director Sula Bruce said. “The organisations we are working with are keen to use the event as a platform to build new and strengthen existing cross-sector partnerships.
“Partnerships have always been at the core of AIDF’s ethos and with such support, we are excited about what we can achieve at AIDF Asia-Pacific.”
Centaur Exhibitions held the second edition of its annual AidEx exhibition for the humanitarian aid community in October in Brussels.
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