It was announced today that Macau has been chosen to host the 11th Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress, a convention that will be attended by over 8,000 people, the largest convention ever booked to the city. It is also the first major convention booking by the MGTO's Macau Business Tourism Centre since its opening last year.

The organizers of the convention, the Asia Pacific Financial Services Association (APFinSA), have chosen Macau to host its annual gathering in the spring of 2009, after a site inspection, which was coordinated by the Macau Business Tourism Centre.

The announcement was made today at the opening of a Macau Government Tourist Office seminar on business tourism, where the chairman of the Singapore-based Convention Bureau of APFinSA, Abdul Sani Abdul Kudus, the organizer of the convention, is one of the guest speakers.

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) director, João Manuel Costa Antunes, said that the news is a good start for the Macau Business Tourism Centre.

"Macau is honored to be chosen to host such a prestigious event that has been rotating throughout the Asia-Pacific," he said.

"This is one of the largest conventions being held every year in the Asian region - it is a very big win", Costa Antunes pointed out, "and its impacts will be felt all over the city."

The event is expected to attract between 8,000 - 10,000 delegates in Macau in April of 2009.

APFinSA was formed in September 1991 when a total of 11 member financial services associations from 11 countries started their 1st convention in Singapore with more than 5,000 delegates. Since then, the attendance has swelled to over 10,000 when the meeting was held in Malaysia in 2005. The meeting that held in Taipei this year with the attendance of 9,000.