Brisbane, Australia has been chosen to host the 29th International Horticultural Congress in 2014 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The six-day Congress is expected to attract more than 2,000 international delegates from more than 100 countries and will generate an estimated $7 million for the Queensland economy.

Brisbane was named as the host city by Council members of the International Society of Horticultural Science (ISHS) at an International Council meeting in Seoul, South Korea prior to the staging of the 2006 International Horticultural Congress in August.

Members of the Australian Society for Horticultural Science (AuSHS) and the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (NZIAHS), together with representatives from the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and Brisbane Marketing, presented the successful bid in Seoul.

The bid to host the Congress was prepared jointly by the team at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in conjunction with members of the AuSHS and the NZIAHS who will be joint hosts for the 2014 Congress, and with the assistance of Brisbane Marketing.

Gaining support to stage international meetings of this calibre is a highly competitive process and the bid team worked for six years to secure this successful outcome.

Thousands of hours went into the preparation for the final bid proposal which included intense lobbying of ISHS Council and Board members and visits by bidding team members to the International Secretariat in Brussels.

The Congress which is held every four years will next take place in Lisbon in 2010, before coming to Brisbane in 2014. This is only the second time that the IHC has been held in the Southern Hemisphere having previously been staged in Sydney in 1978.

The Horticultural Industries in Australia and New Zealand contribute more than $10.6 billion AUD to the GDP of the region and are at the forefront of innovation and research world-wide.

Australia and New Zealand make leading edge contributions to international horticultural science and utilise research outcomes to maintain competitiveness in a global market.

Commenting on Brisbane's successful bid for the congress, Brisbane Convention Centre General Manager, Robert O'Keeffe said the Centre was delighted to be selected as the host venue.

"The Brisbane Centre is the venue for many high profile scientific meetings which not only generate significant economic benefit to Queensland but also facilitate the sharing of knowledge and expertise on a global scale," he said.

Mr O'Keeffe said the Centre's recent international ranking among the top three convention centres worldwide by the Association Internationale des Palais de Congress (AIPC) endorsed the Centre's international reputation and highlighted Brisbane as a popular destination and drawcard for international business.

In recent months the Centre has won the right to host, nine new international conventions, worth more than $ 26.5 million to the State of Queensland and bringing thousands of international visitors to Brisbane.

Paul Lewin, Director of Business Development for Brisbane Marketing said this latest win was an example of the way the city's major stakeholders work together to ensure a successful outcome for all parties.