Singapore wins the bid for FDI 2009 – one of the World’s Largest Dental Congresses

In what is hailed as another mega event achievement for the booming Singapore MICE industry, Singapore Dental Association (SDA) announced formally today that Singapore has secured the bid for the FDI Annual World Dental Congress, to be held in 2009 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Expected to attract more than 13,000 delegates from all over the world, the congress will be one of the biggest the FDI has ever held.

The Executive Director of the FDI World Dental Federation Dr. JT Barnard is in Singapore to officiate the announcement. “We selected Singapore as venue for the 2009 Annual World Dental Congress because of its excellent business environment, geographical accessibility, convention infrastructure and the professional support from the Singapore Tourism Board, the business sector and specifically the Singapore Dental Association” said Dr. Barnard. 

The FDI World Dental Federation is headquartered in France and is the one of the oldest charitable organization in the world. It was founded in 1900 with currently more than 150 member associations in 130 countries, representing more than 900,000 dentists worldwide. FDI is a very influential body that brings together the world of dentistry and dental professionals. The FDI World Dental Congress is one of the few mega conventions in the world that attract more than 10,000 foreign delegates.  The congress has a long history spanning back to 1900 and rotates internationally.

The winning of the FDI Congress 2009 is even more significant given the fact that this not the first time Singapore plays a host to the world’s foremost dentistry experts; the city-state last welcomed the FDI congress back in 1990.

The rare achievement of bringing the event to Singapore for the second time around 19 years later is largely credited to the active role that the local FDI representative, the Singapore Dental Association (SDA), played in the bidding for this event.

Says SDA’s President Dr Benjamin Long: “We are fully committed to attracting more than 13,000 delegates to attend the Congress.  This would raise the profile of the SDA considerably in both the international and regional arena”.

The staging of FDI Annual World Dental Congress 2009 in Singapore is demonstrative of the synergistic partnership between the private and public sectors.  The Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB), a group of the Singapore Tourism Board, and Suntec Singapore worked closely with SDA to put together a rigorous bid for the event.  SDA then went on to present to the FDI Council amidst strong competition to host the conference in 2009.

“FDI 2009 offers a prime platform to showcase Singapore’s expertise in dentistry and in leading R & D in this field. This event is one of the first recipients of the Singapore Tourism Board’s “BE in Singapore” or “Business Events in Singapore” incentive scheme. This incentive scheme empowers the industry to attract, bid, create and grow strategic MICE events in Singapore. Biomedical and medical sciences are key industry drivers to our economy and with our solid track record in hosting biomedical and medical events, the STB will continue our efforts to attract and grow this cluster to maintain a robust pipeline of MICE events in the years to come,” said Mr Aloysius Arlando, Assistant Chief Executive, Business Travel & MICE Group, Singapore Tourism Board.

The FDI 2009 will span over 4 days from Sep 2nd – 5th 2009. There is very demanding schedule in terms of the facility requirements, given the mix of exhibition space and a variety of meeting spaces that will have to accommodate the large plenary assembly and a multitude of smaller specialized sessions. The venue, Suntec Singapore, is confident that as always, all needs will be met.  Says Suntec Singapore’s COO Pieter Idenburg: “We are very excited about welcoming FDI in 2009 to our venue.  Over the past few years Suntec Singapore has made an international name for itself as the utmost venue of choice in Asia for large international medical meetings.  With hundreds of large events under our belt, we are well accustomed to handle expertly complex and demanding conventions and will make sure that we extend our utmost hospitality and professional service to make sure FDI 2009 is a resounding success.”

“We celebrate today. Our hard work on the event preparation starts immediately.”  “The LOC will dedicate itself to organizing a Conference that all delegates will talk about!”  “It will set the benchmark for future FDI Meetings.” concluded Prof. Teo Choo Soo, Organising Chairman, FDI Annual World Dental Federation Congress 2009.

Report by The Mole