2018 FIA Sport Conference to be held in Manila

The Automobile Association of the Philippines officially announced yesterday that they will be hosting the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Sport Conference in Manila this year in cooperation with the Department of Tourism (DOT). Manila will soon join Goodwood, Munich, Mexico City, Turin and Geneva as the cities to have hosted the annual FIA Sport Conference. The FIA, based in Paris, is the governing body of four-wheel motor sport worldwide.

The upcoming event slated on June 4 to 6 will be the sixth edition of the FIA Sport Conference and is attended by representatives from 245 FIA member organizations in 143 countries.

This year's event expects to gather some 400 delegates from FIA National Sporting Authorities (NSAs) and mobility clubs around the world. This is the first time the FIA SC will be held in Asia.

The 2018 FIA SC includes the MotorEx offering an industry-themed showcase and platform for the analysis of future trends and opportunities in motor sport and featuring key decision-makers, event promoters and leading figures from racing and rallying.

As the FIA’s NSA in the Philippines, the AAP will host the Conference with the support of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and corporate sponsors including Petron as the official fuel partner, SMC Asia Car Distributors Corporation (BMW Philippines) and Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. as logistics partners.

FIA Sport Conference Project Director Frederique Trouve formally turned over the hosting of the 2018 FIA Sport Conference to AAP President Gus Lagman in the presence of FIA Events Manager Martin Lalande , DOT Undersecretary Allan Canizal, and co-chairpersons of the 2018 FIA SC National Organizing Council Committee: Government Sector Chairperson/DOT Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre, Private Sector Chairperson/AAP Trustee and Tourism and Travel Committee Chairperson Mina T. Gabor and Private Sector Co-Chairperson/AAP Trustee and Motor Sport Chairperson Mandy Eduque.

“AAP has been very active in participating in FIA conferences and we have seen their loyalty and motivation in promoting motor sport among the youth through efforts such as the Motor Sport Development Program,” Trouve said.

“They have also organized many activities in terms of training in road safety,” she added.

At this year’s Sport Conference, the FIA plans to integrate road safety with motor sport. The FIA has also recognized the difficulty in educating the youth in both aspects and are looking for ways in order to conduct activities that can do both.

Other possible activities are an extrication demo and motor sport activities like drifting, auto cross, slalom, e-karting and/or the FIA-certified online Gran Turismo Asian Regional Finals Championship. The FIA also plans to invite school children to the extrication demo and some motor sport events aside from opening selected activities to the general public.