Ex-PM Tony Blair delivers speech at Da Nang event
Monday, November 18, 2013, 18:36 GMT+7
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in Vietnam over the weekend to attend an international conference together with 120 of the world’s billionaires and investors.
>> World billionaires’ private jets in Da Nang
The workshop, titled Creative Connection, was hosted by UK bank Standard Chartered and organized by a Singaporean PR agency at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in the coastal city of Da Nang from November 15 to 17.
Blair, who had been invited to deliver a speech at the event, arrived in the city on November 16 via his black private jet Blair Force One, reportedly worth US$48.36 million.
The former PM was the only attendee who arranged to have his aircraft landed and put under tight security at the military terminal belonging to Vietnam’s air force.
A source close to Tuoi Tre said the event attracted more than 120 guests who arrived in Da Nang from many financial centers worldwide via 19 costly private jets and a charter flight from Singapore.
The attendees were billionaires from financial and tourism hubs in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. They landed in planes numbered N383AJ, VPBJT, TPJ57DP, JJA095, and AJ 601.
The 11 private jets are under tight security at Da Nang airport.
The attendees were going to enjoy a dinner in Hoi An on Saturday. But both the city and its renowned Old Quarter were heavily flooded that day, so the dinner was relocated to the resort.
Normally, local residents and tourists can pay VND700,000 for a ticket to tour and take photos at the resort, but admission was suspended during the three days of the conference.
It is reported that the organizers booked all of the rooms at the InterContinental for the event.
Room rates range from VND7 million to VND120 million ($350 - $6,000).
One of the attendees, a CEO, booked the Royal Residence room for three nights at $6,000 each. Earlier this year a Saudi Arabian princess also chose to stay in this room during her visit to Da Nang.
By the end of Sunday, all of the guests had checked out and left Vietnam.
