The Ireland Malaysia Association (IMA) Inaugural Gala Dinner was held in the Great Hall, Shelbourne Hotel on Thursday 13th February 2014. This sold out event was well attended by an audience across the business, education and diplomatic communities.
The evening was hosted by IMA’s Patron His Excellency Ambassador Dato’ Ramli Naam, Ambassador of Ireland to Malaysia.
Our Guests of Honour for the evening was Minister Fergus O’Dowd, Minister of State, Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and Environment, Community and Local Government who spoke of the active trade relations between the two countries.
Pat Breen, T.D., Chairman of the Oireachtas Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade was also present.
The running order for the evening includes video messages from IMA’s network in Malaysia – H.E Ambassador Declan Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to Malaysia and Ron Anderson, Chairman of MIBN.
The event also attracted Heathers, a successful Irish band, who performed two of their hits on the evening. Heathers have just been invited to perform at the upcoming St Patrick’s Day Festival in Penang, Malaysia.
Reflecting on the evening’s success IMA’s Chairman Vincent Teo said “We couldn’t be more delighted with the turnout and support we’ve received for the Gala Dinner. This is our first ever Gala Dinner and the pressure was on for us to deliver an enjoyable evening. From the overwhelming positive feed back we’ve received, I think the organising committee has delivered just that.”
The IMA would like to once again to thank everybody who supported and attended our Gala Dinner especially our sponsors: Etihad Airways; Tourism Malaysia, Northern Ireland Connections, Steripack and Crowleys DFK.
Photographs of the event can be seen below.