In a performance update, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) announced that Thailand won 23 bids for international conferences from October 2022 to September 2023. These are for events that will take place up to 2028.
The largest among the wins is the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) to be held in Bangkok, with 12,000 delegates expected. Two are notable for being the first to be staged in Southeast Asia – the FIFA Congress 2024 and the World Diabetes Congress 2025. The FIFA Congress is expected to attract 2,000 delegates from 211 countries, and the World Diabetes Congress 10,000 delegates.
It is also noteworthy that 14 of the 23 wins are for medical conferences. They include the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress 2024 (8,000 delegates) and the World Congress on Pain 2026 (5,000 delegates).
The bids were conceived, prepared and presented by TCEB. Besides the bid strategy, TCEB was responsible for producing the bid book publicity and securing the backing of the relevant government ministry through TCEB’s One Ministry, One Convention (OMOC) programme.
The OMOC programme allows TCEB to tap into the resources and support of a particular government ministry. It was instrumental in securing the Annual Meetings of IMF and WBG, the FIFA Congress, as well as three global medical conferences, which, other than the World Diabetes Congress, include the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress 2024 and World Congress on Pain 2026. Under OMOC, a relevant ministry will be designated host. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance will host the Annual Meetings of IMF and WBG, the FIFA Congress by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) and the medical conferences of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).
TCEB President Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya said: “Thailand’s latest wins prove how effective TCEB’s OMOC programme can be when we bid for global events such as the IMF/WBG Annual Meetings, FIFA Congress and World Diabetes Congress. We created OMOC as a mechanism to attract more international conventions to Thailand by extending the support of the related government ministry. Through more targeted collaboration and promotion in related sectors and agencies, we hope to help convention owners and organisers achieve breakthrough success when they bring their events to Thailand. We note that Thailand inspires strong trust as a convention destination.”
Other than finance, healthcare and sports, the 23 bid wins also include environmental, education, digital, and business management events.
