KUALA LUMPUR: Ivanka Trump, daughter of famed tycoon Donald Trump, and a one-time fashion model, will be a speaker at the inaugural Global Brand Forum to be held in Malaysia in December.

Besides Ivanka, who has joined her father in managing his property and gambling empire, other self-made entrepreneurs at the forum include such stars as youth marketing and techno branding guru Martin Lindstrom and founder of photo sharing website Flickr.com, Stewart Butterfield.

Also coming are retail icon Sheikh Majed Al Sabah and creative director Joanne Ooi of the Shanghai Tang fashion label.

Global Brand Forum chairman Karthik Siva said the organiser had decided to revise an earlier list of speakers, which included former US president Bill Clinton, after receiving feedback.

"It was felt that, as the inaugural forum it would be best that the speakers be business leaders rather than political icons," he said.
The event is scheduled for Dec 4 and 5.

Themed "Creating Leader Brands", the forum seeks to inspire Malaysian corporations by bringing well-known personalities to speak on how brands can be built, sustained and create value.

Media Prima Bhd's television networks and Media Prima International group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Farid Ridzuan said branding would be the unique differentiator between companies

"If you haven't got a brand, you haven't got a business."

Media Prima is the co-organiser of the forum. The New Straits Times Press is one of the forum's media partners.

Farid said initial response to the event had been so good that the organiser had to move the venue to The Palace of the Golden Horses, which seats 800 people. Initially the organiser had anticipated about 600 participants.

"The time is right for Malaysians to create their own brands strong enough to draw investment, that are globally competitive and branding them to become a force of global icons," Karthik said.

Tickets are priced at RM4,800, and early birds will enjoy a RM500 discount. Groups are charged RM4,000 per person.