Asia Pacific Cities Summit & Mayors' Forum

The Asia Pacific Cities Summit (APCS) & Mayors’ Forum is the Asia Pacific region’s premier Summit connecting local government, business and industry leaders. Since its establishment in 1996 by Brisbane City Council, the APCS has become a leading platform for cities and industry to identify common challenges, exchange knowledge and drive commercial outcomes.

The Summit creates opportunities for growth and networking for everyone from local business owners to global corporates, city leaders, policy makers, researchers and emerging leaders.

Brisbane City Council's International Relations and Multicultural Affairs Branch is the Secretariat of the APCS.

Save the date: 2025APCS

The next APCS & Mayors’ Forum (2025APCS) will be held offshore in 2025. Further details will be released closer to the time.

For further information about the 2025APCS or to subscribe to the APCS e-newsletter to receive the latest updates, please visit the APCS website.

Previous summits

2023APCS

The 14th Asia Pacific Cities Summit (2023APCS) & Mayors’ Forum was held in Brisbane, from 11 to 13 October, and welcomed almost 1,200 delegates from a record-breaking 171 cities, including our largest number of mayors and equivalents to date, with 118 attending.

Under the leading theme of Shaping Cities for our Future, delegates learned about Cities of Connection, Cities of Sustainability and Cities of Legacy from 180 inspiring speakers and facilitators over three days. Keynote speakers included award-winning author and urbanist Charles Montgomery, President of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee Andrew N. Liveris AO, two-time world champion debater Bo Seo and Executive Chairman of Visy, Anthony Pratt.

In keeping with our sub-theme of Cities of Sustainability, Brisbane was awarded Gold Status under the UN-Habitat’s SDGs Cities Global Initiative, the second city globally and the first city in Australia to be awarded.

2021APCS Special Edition

The 2021 Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors’ Forum Special Edition (2021APCS Special Edition) was held in Brisbane from 8 to 12 September 2021. The Summit took place in a hybrid format for the first time and welcomed over 700 delegates to the event, both physically and virtually, representing 74 cities including 51 Mayors and Deputy Mayors.

Under the overarching theme of Redefining Cities through Opportunities and Challenges, 100 speakers and presenters participated in the program, including keynote speakers Martin O’Malley, 61st Governor of Maryland and former Mayor of Baltimore, and Kurt Fearnley AO, Australian wheelchair racer and three-time Paralympic gold medallist.

To see the highlights of the 2021APCS Special Edition, visit theAPCS website.

2019APCS

The 12th Asia Pacific Cities Summit (2019APCS) and Mayors’ Forum was held in Brisbane, from 7 to 10 July and welcomed more than 1400 government, business and emerging leaders from 140 cities, including 83 Mayors. This was the highest number of delegates and cities for onshore Summits to date, further cementing the APCS as one of the leading forums in the Asia Pacific region.

Under the leading theme of Driving Cities through Business and Innovation, delegates made new business connections, engaged in meaningful conversations about the innovation, mobility, liveability and sustainability of cities, and heard from inspiring speakers over four days. The 2019APCS offered an extensive program featuring 196 presenters, including keynote speakers Marc Randolph, Co-founder of Netflix, Andreas Weigend, Former Chief Scientist of Amazon and Peggy Liu, Chairperson of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

More information

For all enquiries relating to the Asia Pacific Cities Summit & Mayors' Forum, contact the APCS Secretariat in Brisbane:

Alternatively, you can visit the APCS website.

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