AGBA Conference

Regular visitors to my blog would have realized that I had mentioned about attending some conference in my previous blog post and a few enquired on how it went. I decided to write a long post about it.

It was the 3rd Annual World Congress of the Academy for Global Business Advancement and was held from January 4-6 in Kuala Lumpur. Titled “Business and Entrepreneurship Developement in a Globalized Era", it was jointly organized by AGBA and University College of Technology & Management Malaysia or Kolej Universiti Teknologi & Pengurusan Malaysia (KUTPM).

The KUTPM people did a great job considering that they had to organize everything in such a short notice (I won’t go into the details). Congratulations to everybody involved in organizing the event, especially Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Zainul Fithri. You were a wonderful host.

Besides the quality of papers presented and the number of participants, the venue of the conference plays a big part in deciding its success (or failure). Well, the conference did not fail in any of the above aspects.

The conference was held at the Carlton Convention Centre (FYI, the centre is located on level 1 to 3 of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur). Most of the participants were staying at the JW Marriot (both hotels are owned by the YTL group) next door.

And of course, I would have to describe the food. We were given free lunch vouchers and were free to eat at any of the 13 restaurants at Starhill Gallery’s Feast Village (on floor LG). Despite the fact that we had limited choice from a set menu (for conference participants), I really enjoyed the food.

On the first day, we ate at Tarbush, which serves Middle Eastern (read Arab) cuisine. Not bad. They were really great to come up with a vegetarian dish for me. Next day, it was Indian food at Vansh (from the Rang Mahal Group in Singapore). Their food was the tastiest and had the most choices. On the 3rd day, my wife was craving for Steak and so we decided on Jake’s Charbroil Steak. I was wondering what I would eat there but surprise; they came up with something vegetarian for me. We also tried out My Thai, which as the name suggest serves Thai food. Was a bit disappointed with the poor service, maybe due to the large number of customers there.

I would have loved to try out the offerings at all the places but unfortunately so little time and only 3 coupons....

Maybe it was the food or the ambiance but I loved the place. Renowned Japanese architect, Yuhkichi Kawai designed the entire place in collaboration with the YTL Design Team. I didn’t take any picture, as I was busy eating. If you go there, CHECK OUT THE TOILETS. They are out of this world.

More about the conference later.

TAGS: AGBA Conference Feast Village Hotels KUTPM YTL