BECA wins MEACO Congress for Bahrain

All three international events will be inaugurated in Bahrain in 2009.

On 26th March 2009, the Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) will host its 10th biennial Congress at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre (BIEC) with an estimated attendance of 4,000 renowned ophthalmologists and professionals from all over the world as well as strong representation from the eye care industry.

For the first time in the MEACO Congress history, the scientific programme will feature the participation of 12 international ophthalmic societies hand in hand with the MEACO symposia.

More than 16,000 square metres of BIEC's interconnected exhibit and meeting space will be occupied by MEACO for the five-day Congress whose potential economic impact to Bahrain is placed at BD4.165m.

BECA, Bahrain's forerunner MICE organisation, functions under the Industry & Commerce Ministry, with His Excellency Dr. Hassan Abdulla Fakhro, The Minister of Industry & Commerce as Chairman of the Board of Directors of BECA. It manages Bahrain's largest and most flexible trade show and convention facility, the BIEC.

More support

According to Dr. Abdulaziz AlRajhi, President of MEACO, Board Member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and Co-Chair, Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) who concurrently serves as Board Member of the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), the MEACO Board of Directors decided to award the 2009 Congress bid to Bahrain after seeing BECA's genuine commitment to service through the full support proffered by its Management amidst tough regional competition from Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Qatar.

"We have received a thousand times more support than we have initially anticipated from BECA," says Dr. AlRajhi.

BECA has committed its resources to ensure the success of Bahrain's largest-ever international medical congress by assigning a dedicated team of expert Events, Licensing, Operations and Public Relations staff to anticipate and respond to MEACO's needs and leveraging the opportunities afforded by the Authority's strategic partnerships.

Through BECA's strategic alliance with Gulf Air, the Authority has been able to offer additional support to MEACO by sponsoring the flights of several speakers and securing the best guaranteed rates for the Congress organisers and delegates.

Bjorn Naf, Gulf Air Chief Executive explains, "As the only national carrier of the Kingdom, we are constantly looking at ways to promote Bahrain to the world and bring the world to the Kingdom. Our alliance with BECA will surely have significant and positive impact on this initiative."

To raise the profile of Bahrain on the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) map, Heba Ghazwan, BECA PR Officer, was designated to represent the destination as part of the MEACO pavilion at international ophthalmic congresses in Atlanta, Chicago and Hong Kong last year.

In addition to the state-of-the-art live surgeries from Bahrain's Salmaniya Hospital which will be broadcast live to the thousands of MEACO Congress delegates at BIEC, the 10th biennial Congress will have more than 90 international top notch speakers from throughout the world. It will feature more than 120 scientific sessions, 66 symposia, 54 instructional courses, more than 150 E-posters, more than 45 videos to cover all aspects of ophthalmology and exclusive corporate meetings.

Rasha Alshubaian, MEACO Director - International Affairs & Conferences affirms Dr. AlRajhi's sentiments, "Thank you (to BECA) for the great support. We are really blessed for having (them) and (their) wonderful team."

US-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) will be launching HIMSS MiddleEast09, an event dedicated to IT and healthcare professionals from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and North America that will explore the optimal use of IT and management systems to improve healthcare, from 5th to 7th May 2009 at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain.

In October, the World Academy of Laser Applications (WALA) will hold its first annual conference and exhibition with anti-aging and synthetics symposium at the BIEC. Scheduled to be inaugurated on 19th October 2009, the three-day event will be hosted in Hall 2 and in the Convention Centre. This key event is estimated to attract the participation of 4,000 doctors from different parts of the globe.

BECA's foray into the associations and corporate buyers market are opening up tremendous opportunities for Bahrain's Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry to build business in the coming years. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CISCO) has booked dates for a four-day international Congress at the BIEC in 2010.

Currently, BIEC's exhibitions calendar is booked up years in advance and BECA have had to turn away 11 events as of press time due to the lack of exhibition and meeting space.

Exhibitions work

"Our goal is to challenge the expectations of people who may have preconceptions about Bahrain by doing everything possible to ensure the country is at the top of the list when it comes to organisations choosing their destinations," says Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, Acting CEO - BECA. "Providing exceptional value through customer service does not only work to BECA's advantage, it also ensures that our stakeholders and the community benefit."

Ms. Stanford-Kristiansen emphasises the value of long-term, harmonised alliances between BECA and industry stakeholders such as Tourism Affairs, the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), Gulf Air, Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry and others from the leisure and hospitality sectors in order to extend Bahrain's marketing reach and generate demand for the destination well into the future.

She adds, "In all humility, we are gratified to note that despite the global economic downturn, Bahrain's MICE sector saw a 35 per cent increase in demand in 2008." "As we look to the future of MICE business in Bahrain, the most important opportunity for our destination and our team at BECA is the building of Bahrain's new exhibition and convention centre in Sakhir which will serve as a visual ambassador of the Kingdom's commitment to promote Bahrain as a key MICE destination."

Ms. Stanford-Kristiansen explains that suppliers are becoming more and more aware of the value of business-to-business and business-to-consumer exhibitions in these challenging times.

"Suppliers are realising the importance of face-to-face interaction in instilling confidence in their customers and marketing their company's products or services in the current economic crisis. Amongst peers, you are more conspicuous by your absence," added Ms. Kristiansen.