Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians

Registration for the 14th CONSAL General Conference is closed on March 31, 2009, the Organizing Committee of the 14th CONSAL General Conference annouced today. The General Conference will be held from April 21-23, 2009 at Melia Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam, convening about 700 library and information professionals from ten ASEAN countries as well as China, Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States.

Below is the letter from the Chairman explaining the cease of conference registration.

Dear Colleagues,

Warm greetings and best wishes from the CONSAL XIV Organizing Committee!

CONSAL XIV is coming closer and we are in the final preparation step. For the first time to be the host of CONSAL General Conference, Vietnam is so happy that there are many friends and colleagues in the region and over the world paying attention to CONSAL XIV and expressing so excited attitude in attending this Conference. Up to know, we have received nearly 800 registrations and this number is increasing everyday. As the number exceeds the host country’s estimation and preparation it leads to several problems to the Organizing Committee.

First, it is the overload of the Conference Hall’s capacity at Melia Hanoi Hotel. The reason that Melia is chosen instead of the International Convention Centre is that Melia is one of the most beautiful and professional venue for international conferences in Hanoi at present and the total rental fits in with our budget.

Second, it is financial difficulty. As you know, we are all affected by economic recession. Beside the main budget sponsored by Vietnamese government, we have also called for sponsorship but this amount is not much. The total budget therefore can not afford a Conference with more than 750 participants.

Third, this is the first time we have been the host of such an important and big event, so we have faced many challenges due to a lack of experience. We are afraid that with too big number of participants, we do not have enough capacity to provide the best and  most comfortable conditions for all delegates during CONSAL XIV time. 

Therefore, in order to ensure the quality and the success of the 14^th CONSAL General Conference, we would like to inform that we will close the registration to CONSAL XIV on 31^st March 2009.

We do hope that you would understand and support our decision,

Thank you very much.

With best regards,

Yours sincerely,

Pham The Khang

Chairman of the CONSAL XIV Organizing Committee

Director of the National Library of Vietnam