Photo by Ulysses Ang

The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) once again convenes top minds from the government, business, and academe at the third Thought Leadership Forum (TLF) in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Dubbed ICON (Innovation Congress), this year’s TLF is a milestone for AVID with its powerhouse events--the ICON forum on April 5 and the Innovation in Mobility Expo, which runs April 5-7, 2013 at The ICON on 32nd Avenue cor. 9th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Admission to the Congress and Expo is free.

Themed “Action Towards Viable Innovation for Development,” ICON marries AVID’s core mission of fostering the development and growth of the Philippine automotive industry and the country’s economy, with DOST’s National Innovation Strategy.

ICON will serve as a platform for an exchange of ideas and advocacies among respected thought leaders and innovators on the importance of innovation as a way to prosper in an increasingly competitive global environment.

The ICON Forum will tackle global trends in innovation and current issues and policies that affect the automotive industry, with emphasis on competitiveness driven by innovative thinking. While the Innovation in Mobility Expo AVID translates the Forum’s innovation dialogues to actual innovation products and projects of AVID and the DOST.

“AVID member companies take pride in the innovation philosophies of the top world brands that we represent. Innovation has driven us to become formidable players in the automotive industry. We share with DOST the vision and commitment to foster and intensify a mindset for innovation that will boost our country’s ranking in the global competitiveness indexes, with the end of being recognized as a worthy player in the global business arena,” explained AVID President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

“ICON will be a ‘delivery room’ for more innovation that will foster a shift toward a ‘smart’ society… of integrated systems that will bring about bigger improvements  in the areas of smart agriculture, health services, smart traffic management, energy, and meteorology and weather forecasting to name a few. Innovation is something we should encourage. It is the only way that we can transform our resources into something that would benefit the Filipino people,” said DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo.