Mr. Edward Liu, PBM is the Group Managing Director of CEMS, which is headquartered in Singapore. Currently, CEMS has offices in China, Malaysia and Singapore where it organises some 10 – 15 exhibitions a year.

Dubbed by Singapore`s Straits Times newspaper as "The Exhibition Man", Mr Liu was the first elected President of the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) in 1981, when he launched the inaugural Asian Aerospace 1981, on behalf of ITF, to great success. As President of SACEOS, he had led ground-breaking trade missions to Europe and the United States, inviting international organisers to stage events in Singapore.

In view of his pioneering experience in Singapore, Mr Liu was invited to serve on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE), based in Dallas, USA from 2002 - 2007. Single-handedly, Mr Liu represented the interests of IAEE in China and Asia during the tenure of his service and more. In recognition of his leadership in the global exhibition industry, the IAEE had bestowed the prestigious “Chairman’s Award” on Mr. Liu at its Annual Meeting in San Diego in 2006.

Another of his key projects was the creation of the IAEE Asian Exhibition Council which continues to promote ties and cooperation between US organisers and those from Australia, China, India, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. For his sterling effort, IAEE again honoured him with the “International Excellence Award” at the IMEX event in Frankfurt in 2015.

In addition, Mr Liu had served as President of the Asian Federation of Exhibition & Convention Associations (AFECA) in the formative years from 2007 to 2015; bringing the total membership to more than 130, including some 30 associations and 100 corporations from 17 countries and regions throughout Asia. Amongst the major events are the AFECA Annual Awards; and the Youth MICE Challenges amongst tertiary students in Asia. Mr Liu is the current Immediate Past President of AFECA.

Similarly, in appreciation of his advice and momentous contribution to the Chinese exhibition industry by helping to create the China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO) project in 2004, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Headquarters had appointed Mr. Liu as an Advisor, Exhibition Industry. He continues to be involved in the CEFCO series either as a moderator or presenter. Mr Liu is also a Senior Advisor to the Macau Convention & Exhibition Association. Recently, Mr Liu was appointed as a Member of the International Experts Advisory Committee to the Qingdao Government in China.

In community services, Mr Liu has helped initiate the formation of Residents Committees (RCs) and had served on the Management Committee of Jalan Tenteram Community Centre in Whampoa Constituency in the 1970s and 1980s; before becoming the Chairman of the Queenstown Community Centre Management Committee and Vice Chairman of the Queenstown Citizens Consultative Committee (QCCC) concurrently in the past two decades. Presently, he is the Patron of the QCCC. And, in honour of his long and distinguished services in the Tanjong Pagar GRC (Queenstown) constituency, the Singapore Government has honoured Mr. Liu with the Pingkat Bakti Masyarakat (PBM) national award in 1999.

Also in the same year, Mr. Liu was nominated by the Singapore Government as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Cote d`Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in Singapore. In acknowledgement of his outstanding services, the Ivorian Government has decorated Mr. Liu with a “Chevalier (Knighthood) of National Order” by its Foreign Minister, Mr.Youssouf Bakayoko on 7 March 2008, during his first official visit to Singapore. In this capacity, Mr Liu had accompanied various Singapore’s Ministers on business missions to Abidjan, capital of Cote d’Ivoire in recent years. Mr Liu was promoted as an Honorary Consul General in 2015.

And in cognisance of his distinguished services to the marketing profession, the Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS) has also conferred a Fellowship on Mr. Liu at its 35th Anniversary Dinner held on 13 March 2008. In the sporting front, Mr Liu has been Chairman of the Tanjong Pagar United Football Club (TPUFC) for more than 10 years. The club is expected to return to the S-League in 2019.

Finally, Mr Liu has been an External Examiner for the School of Architecture & Built Environment in the Singapore Polytechnic since 2009; and as Deputy Registrar of Marriages for more than 15 years.

Academically, Mr. Liu holds several degrees and diplomas including a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Brunel University, United Kingdom; a Bachelor of Business in Business Administration from the RMIT University, Australia and a Diploma in Management Studies from The University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, USA; and a Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the Singapore Institute of Management and the Marketing Institute of Singapore.

Apart from being a frequent speaker at MICE conferences throughout the world, Mr. Liu is the principal instructor for the professional exhibition courses for SACEOS and IAEE in the Asia Pacific region.

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