Web Summit revealed today its plans to reinstate RISE, a prominent technology conference in Asia, starting in March 2022. The event will be relocated to Kuala Lumpur following a five-year run in Hong Kong. Simultaneously, the company unveiled a new conference, Web Summit Tokyo, scheduled to debut in 2022.

The primary Web Summit conference is presently being conducted as a virtual gathering.

Back in November 2019, Web Summit communicated a postponement of RISE until 2021 due to the pro-democracy protests occurring in Hong Kong. However, the 2021 iteration of the conference will not proceed, with RISE instead recommencing with the 2022 event in Kuala Lumpur. Naturally, this year has witnessed numerous significant event cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Web Summit intends for the 2022 edition of RISE to be a physical event and has established a three-year collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to facilitate its organization.

According to a press release, Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder and CEO of Web Summit and RISE, stated, “This does not signify a permanent departure from Hong Kong. We anticipate a return to the city at some point in the future with a completely new event.”

Web Summit Tokyo is slated for September 2022 as part of the company’s broader global growth strategy, which also encompasses a planned event in Brazil, with Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre currently under consideration as potential host cities.

Web Summit has previously declared its intention to host its main conference as an in-person gathering in November 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal.