Planning afoot for WICA 2023

By Chris Rodd, AIDA Presidential Council Representative – Australia

Promotion for the first AIDA World Congress to be hosted in Australia since Sydney in 1994 has ratcheted up dramatically.

The initial promotion occurred at the last World Congress in Rio in 2018. Since then, there has been a steady campaign to draw the event to the attention of AIDA’s global membership at Federation of Defence & Corporate Counsel (FDCC) meetings in Philadelphia in 2019, Lisbon in 2019 and at the Ibero-Latin American Committee of AIDA (CILA) meeting in Peru in 2019.

Unfortunately, as the world closed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Congress, originally due to take place in Melbourne in October this year, was rescheduled to August -September 2023 (30 August to 1 September).

However, that has given AILA a greater opportunity to promote the event. So far in 2022 we have received strong initial support from the FDCC in the United States at its meeting in Seattle recently and support from the AIDA Executive at a meeting in Costa Rica in August.

Another opportunity is presented at the AIDA Europe meeting, which is also a Presidential Council meeting, in Zurich in early October and again through our NZILA colleagues at their annual conference in September this year.

The August AILA National Conference in Sydney saw a great deal of interest from Australian and New Zealand colleagues who are keen to engage in Australia’s first global insurance law conference since 1994.

We already have strong sponsorship support, including a sponsor from Brazil, plus interest from potential US sponsors and from many long-standing, highly valued Australian supporters.

We are currently concentrating on planning the scientific and social programs. With the former, topics will be those that have global interest and engage the widest participation. To achieve international interest, the presentations will be in a panel format, similar to the successful formula adopted in Singapore for APIC 2017.

With that approach we have the benefit of hearing from some of the best speakers from around the world discussing issues of major interest to our industry. We are also working closely with our Kiwi and other international colleagues to put together the best scientific program.

There are numerous topics to cover and those that do not make the conference plenary sessions will be canvassed in the AIDA working party meetings scheduled for Wednesday 30 August.

Program details will be revealed over the next few months. I encourage you to visit the AILA website or the conference website (www.wica2023.com) as details unfold and to register for the XVI AIDA World Congress.

The congress theme is Insurance Upside Down, which features Australia upside down, but at the top of the world map.

I can promise you WICA 2023 will be one of the best AIDA World Congresses ever hosted.