Asia-Pacific Superyacht Association Needed
The first Asia Superyacht Conference – held in Singapore last week on October 13-15 – identified a number of critical needs for the industry in the Asia-Pacific region. At the top of this list was the need for an Asia-Pacific superyacht association, that has the ability to promote both the area as a single cruising destination as well as be able to lobby governments to influence regulation and open sea policies.
“The conference clearly identified the need for regional cooperation and that was one of our key objectives in hosting the event,” commented Arthur Tay, Chairman of the Superyacht Singapore Association (SSA) who made the opening welcome address for the conference and also sat on a number of panel discussions. The event has highlighted major opportunities that need urgent attention and we must now find a way of addressing these.”
“We have obviously created a dynamic opportunity for the industry in Asia with this conference,” added Jean-Jacques Lavigne, Executive Director of the SSA, “and we will be consulting our members as well as other Associations and businesses in the region to identify what is the best way to proceed.”
Conference Chairman Simon Turner was delighted with the response, “We are all quite literally overwhelmed by the response to the conference. We were very nervous when we decided to launch this event and there were initial mixed feelings from the international superyacht community. We were able to bring in some fantastic speakers and delegates from around the world which meant that the quality of the presentations was exceptionally high. This inspired delegates into some of the most healthy debate I have ever seen at a conference. What was clear was that people within the region did not know of the extent of opportunities across Asia-Pacific and it was a real eye opener for those visiting from outside the region. From amazing cruising grounds to refit and repair facilities, there is so much more here than people realise. It also highlighted the problems, amongst them is the need for a coordinated approach to regulation in order to enable smooth and simple passage of yachts across our region.”
Y.P. Loke, SSA Vice Chairman, commented, “it was useful to give people new to the region some background information and put the business into perspective with the rest of the world. I have to say that the conference really moved the agenda on in this region and there was a positivity and will to make changes that I have never before seen.”