Presidential Council to meet in Paris

The AIDA Presidential Council is gearing up for its second meeting this year in Paris in late November.

It coincidentally coincides with the UN climate change meeting.

Responses to date suggest the council will be well represented, particularly by European members who were notably absent from the April meeting in Havana, Cuba. It will be the first meeting for several new councillors, including Richard Traub, the new US representative.

Much work has been done by many AIDA, AILA and Asian representatives to support the establishment of new Asian chapters over the last few years. That work has resulted in much success, but to take the chapters to a new level it is generally considered a regional meeting should be convened.

The Presidential Council strongly supports a regional conference in Asia. If it takes place, it would do much to accelerate the evolution of various Asian chapters. The meeting would be an ideal opportunity for a Presidential Council meeting. (The Presidential Council met during the AILA National Conference in Sydney in 2013.)

While AILA has expressed support for such a meeting, there is some concern about likely attendance numbers, particularly from Asia. Much preliminary work has been done by AILA in an attempt to organise such an event, including setting a preliminary budget and approaching a regional conference organiser.

During July, I attended the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC) annual meeting in Banff, Canada. The issue was raised as to how FDCC could further consolidate its long-standing relationship with AIDA.

Several AIDA members were at the Banff meeting, including secretary Colin Croly; Switzerland representative Christian Lang; US representative Richard Traub; and me. FDCC expressed a strong interest in the possibility of a joint regional meeting in an Asian venue, such as Singapore or Hong Kong. The issue will be considered by FDCC’s board in the coming months.

If sanctioned by AILA’s board and if AILA considers such a meeting to be financially viable, it could take place during 2017.

AIDA currently has little exposure in the US and FDCC has very little outside the US. An Asian region event would serve the educational interests of AILA, AIDA and FDCC and, more importantly, the new Asian AIDA chapters.