Members were asked to vote electronically in an EGM and the decision to amend the association’s statutes to include a new category of ‘Associated Member’ was announced at the annual general meeting, which took place on Wednesday May 11 at TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore.
APTRA is the trade association for the duty free and travel retail industry in the Asia Pacific region.
President Jaya Singh said, “The initiative to facilitate a new category of associate member follows expressions of interest in membership from various companies offering services which are associated with, or relevant to, the duty free and travel retail business in the Asia Pacific region.
“These may include food and beverage operators, research consultancies, investment companies and other consultancies involved in the duty free and travel retail business.
“We believe that the inclusion of these companies will add depth and weight to our membership base and will help us to represent better the broader travel retail community. We look forward to adding their expertise to our skills bank,” said Singh
At the AGM it was also agreed that the tenure of the two existing board members representing DFS and Japan Tobacco International, whose terms of office are out of synchronisation with the rest of the members, should be extended by one year to bring them all into line. All members of the board will be able to stand for re-election in May 2017.
Teo Chew Hoon has been named as the member representative from Changi Airport Group following the transfer of Ivy Wong to other responsibilities. During the year Andrew Cunningham took the place of Dr Jennifer Cords representing Imperial Tobacco.
Singh reported on the activities of the association over the past year including the publication of seven research reports, the roll out of the Responsible Retail Training Programme with more than 650 staff trained to date, and the association’s leading role in advocacy efforts across the region.
