The “i3 Forum”—held at the Okada Manila recently—is one of a series of business forums taking place in various cities around the world, building up to the IBD Summit slated for April 6-9, 2020 in Doha, Qatar. Manila is one of 30 cities in which the “i3 Forum” series is being conducted.
Yousif Al-Jaber, International Business Delegation (IBD) Chairman, explained “i3” stands for “Innovators, Investors and Influencers”, as the forum aims to provide a platform for entrepreneurs, investors and corporates to find investors, partners as well as access international markets for business expansion or exports.
“Our international investor network and the trust they place in us are our biggest assets,“ said Al-Jaber.
“Every city has certain key sectors in which they are globally competitive. The i3 Forum and IBD Summit gives them infrastructure to take these products and services to the larger global market,” commented Vineet C. Nambiar, who presented at the forum. He emphasized about a dedicated session exploring opportunities in the ASEAN region at the upcoming IBD Summit.
Leonardo Tabilog Jr., IBD Marketing and Communications Director added: “The I3 forum aspires to be a major annual anticipated event in the Manila business calendar; we’re getting bigger, bolder and better with each year and have already started preparations for next year's i3 Forum, as we appoint IBD ambassadors from the Philippines to help promote our initiative. “
“We are expecting five billion dollars worth of deals at the summit this year and have over 120 proposals from around the world already,” added IBD Projects and Finance Director Shamseer Hamza.
The main thrust of IBD is to provide an avenue for entrepreneurs to ideate, launch and scale ventures internationally by connecting prospective partners, investors and influencers.
These i3 Forums leading to the IBD Summit is a joint initiative by Mavericks365—a Delaware, U.S.-based international platform for ideas, innovation and creation with interests in co-working spaces and ecosystems—and Address Business Management, a Doha, Qatar-based end-to-end business management and consultancy firm. The summit is managed by Singapore-based event management firm XPlus International Pte Ltd.
The “i3 Forum” in Manila was attended by representatives of government agencies of the Philippines and Qatar, together with stakeholders from business sectors. Interaction at the forum was interesting and intimate as participants exchanged information about Philippine investment opportunities, global expansion opportunities, potential bilateral trade agreements, and many more.
Those who attended the Manila forum also learned from Francis Kong, an inspirational and motivational speaker on “ Going Global”; Diwa Guinigundo, Former Deputy Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; and Prof. Jay Bernardo of the ACE Center for Entrepreneurship and Management Education-Ateneo Masters in Entrepreneurship program.
