HR boost planned for event-management sector

“Thai creativity and talent in the event-management business are considered the best in the region, so we are well prepared for this leading position,” Sermkhun Kunawong, EMA chairman, said yesterday.

Under this ambitious plan, Sermkhun added that the association would underline the development of event-management skills at three key levels: technicians, operating officers, and the managerial level. 

Sermkhun said the EMA and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) had jointly created a training project, MICE 101, to develop coaching courses and a curriculum for international MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions) organising. The TCEB and the EMA aim to promote these courses at more than 20 universities across the country. The curriculum is now awaiting endorsement and certification by the Education Ministry. 

With the Asean Economic Community (AEC) due to be implemented in the next three years, a number of major Thai companies in various sectors, including Charoen Pokphand, Siam Cement Group and PTT, are expanding their business in the region. Demand among those companies for marketing events has increased, posing a big opportunity for Thais trained in the MICE business. 

The EMA chairman also called for support from the government to promote Thailand as a hub of MICE human resources development, to complement its current policy to promote the Kingdom as a world-class MICE destination. In the meantime, universities that adopt the curriculum developed by the TCEB and the EMA should welcome more students from neighbouring countries, he said. 

To support core competency in the industry, event organisers seek tax incentives or waivers for imported equipment and facilities used in domestic MICE events, he said.

Sermkhun predicts that this year the industry will enjoy at least 10-per-cent growth from Bt14 billion last year.  

Sermkhun was elected EMA chairman by 100 association members in March. His term ends in 2015.