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East Meets West: How the First Domain Summit Asia Conference Opened Doors on Both Sides of the Globe 

Shortly after Domain Summit Founder Helmuts Meskonis staged the 4th annual edition of the London-based event in September, he announced plans to expand the conference into new regions around the world. That expansion began with the first Domain Summit Asia conference that was held November 17th and 18th in Hong Kong. It came just 10 weeks after Helmuts and DN.com Founder Jack Dai decided to co-host the event after discussing the idea at the London show. That didn't leave a lot of time to put such an ambitious project together but, with a little help from their friends, they made it happen.

Not only that, they wound up selling every available seat for the inaugural edition of Domain Summit Asia. In addition to the around-the clock work put in by the Domain Summit and DN.com teams, Helmuts credited strong support from the .Asia team, Igor Mocni and Eric Yang for making the Hong Kong event such a memorable one. We weren't able to attend but Jack Dai and his highly efficient DN.com crew were kind enough to send us some photos and conference highlights from their perspective that are shared below.

As Asia's first professional domain industry event focusing on the B2B sector, the theme for Domain Summit Asia was "Precisely Connecting the Global Domain Industry Chain and Seizing the Trillion-Dollar Asian Market Dividend." The conference brought together global industry leaders, registrars, investors, legal experts and digital entrepreneurs to create a high-profile, highly connected, and effective international industry event on the shores of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.

Every step, from pre-event preparation to on-site execution, was the result of meticulous planning. As you would expect, Helmuts Meskonis (below) was one the key figures involved in coordinating participant affairs and overseeing on-site operations. His years of experience in the both the domain industry and event organization ensured the smooth progress of the Summit’s agenda.

Three Keynote Speeches provided Insights into the Future of the Industry. In his opening speech, DN.com founder Jack Dai , under the theme "Making Domains Great Again," elaborated on DN.com's platform mission and global vision. He stated that DN.com is committed to connecting buyers and sellers in China and around the world, building a win-win international domain ecosystem. Jack also shared the team's intense schedule of attending 20 industry conferences globally within the first ten months of 2025. This sustained passion and proactive action deeply inspired everyone.

Above: In the next Keynote, .Asia CEO Edmon Chung introduced the registry's "Go Create" concept, emphasizing that domain names are not only web addresses but also crucial elements of brand identity and value. Edmon explained why their uniqueness, scarcity, and interoperability will define the next generation of digital identity.

Above: Completing the well-received Keynote series, Oliver Yang from the .TOP Registry noted that the .top domain has surpassed 6 million registrations globally, becoming the tenth largest top-level domain worldwide, with business coverage in 200 countries and regions. .Top has positive brand associations in both Chinese and English contexts that have been key contributors to its market appeal.

Domain Name Summit also featured three insightful Roundtable Discussions built around the theme of A Clash of Ideas, Building Consensus, with panelists approaching the topic from the perspectives of technology, market, and law. In the first of those (above), the subject was The New Wave of gTLDs: Technology, Opportunities, and Challenges. Registry experts from Hong Kong, Europe, and North America unanimously agreed that education, compliance, and scale are key to the success of new general top-level domains (gTLDs), and expressed optimism about the enormous potential of emerging markets in Asia and Africa.

Above: In the next Roundtable, attention turned to Domain Investors, Brokers, and the Market. Investors and brokers from China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions gathered to focus on signs of market recovery, the demand for domains driven by AI, and the continued strength of short-character .com and .ai domains. A clear consensus emerged that the domain market is experiencing renewed vitality.

Above: The Roundtables concluded with a deep dive into Asian Domain Disputes, UDRP, and ccTLD Enforcement. Legal experts, using typical cases, provided analysis of the enforcement difficulties and solutions for Asian domain disputes, offering professional risk management guidance for investors and brands.

Above & below: With business out of the way, Domain Summit Asia attendees were treated to a Starry Night Party staged with Hong Kong's spectacular Victoria Harbour as its backdrop.

The rooftop party provided a relaxed atmosphere with pleasant background music that provided a perfect environment for lively conversation and the creation of new friendships and potential partnerships that will likely benefit participants for many years to come.

Social activity remained front and center the next day when guests participated in a Hong Kong city tour, visiting the renowned Wong Tai Sin Temple (above) and Victoria Harbour (below).  By sharing culturally rich local experiences, the tour helped deepen meaningful new relationships and strengthen existing ones.

The legacy of the inaugural Domain Name Summit Asia will be its role in helping build bridges between the Asian and global domain name industries, promoting the exchange of ideas, resource sharing, and trust building through speeches, roundtables, auctions, and networking. The industry insights, collaborative networks, and market momentum generated by the summit will help drive continuing innovation in the global domain name ecosystem. 

Summit Founder Helmuts Meskonis told us Domain Summit Asia will definitely return next year and he already has late November 2026 dates and a possible new venue in mind. We will, of course, fill you in when details are finalized. In the meantime, his attention now turns to the next step in his global expansion, Domain Summit Africa, coming up in February.

(Posted November 28, 2025)   

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