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The National Exhibition Centre is spearheading Birmingham’s drive to become a global city by developing conferencing facilities on an international stage, the boss of the complex has said.

Paul Thandi, chief executive of The NEC Group, told invited guests at the organisation’s Media Lunch that the group was using its expertise in designing, building and managing events to export the NEC ethos to other locations.

The management group at the NEC focused on the work done to set up the national Convention Centre Dublin (CCD).

The centre, which will open in two years, is the first public access building to be built in Ireland since the creation of the state more than 80 years ago.

Nick Waight, managing director of group convention centres at the NEC, told the event there were already 11 planned events for the site, securing more than 20 million euros (£16 million).

“We want to extend our reach beyond Birmingham and onto an international platform,” he said.

Mr Thandi said the NEC gained revenue from the CCD via a management contract which is related to the success of the complex, which opens in September 2010.

He said: “We are securing revenue from Dublin which is being directed back into the West Midlands business and offering jobs for the region.

“The other thing we can do is offer our customer the wider offer. Instead of our customers going to our competitor’s events, they will be going to our partner destinations.

“What we can offer is not just Birmingham, but also Dublin. That is working very clearly to a well known objective for this city, which is to make Birmingham a global city.”

The NEC recently announced that operating profit over the last year was up 12 per cent on the previous year. Almost all of this increase was attributable to a contract to operate the new CCD.

Mr Thandi said the NEC would ruthlessly target the North American market to drive business for the Dublin project.

He also said the NEC was working on a successful model that it had set up with partners in Hong Kong. He said talks were ongoing with other global partners, but he could not go into detail.

The lunch also heard plans for the NEC to focus on the luxury end of the corporate entertainment market.

The £28 million LG Arena, formerly the NEC Arena, will soon have a VIP ‘Party Deck’ for corporate members, which will be similar to high end hospitality boxes for football fans. Plans were also aired for new ‘Michelin star’ fine dining menus.

Mr Thandi said: “Although we are promoting this part of our business package, we are still very much targeting consumers who attend our premium shows such as The Clothes Show and Crufts.

“We recently made 1,500 picnic baskets for Marks and Spencer. We have a whole range of products which we want to showcase. It is all about ensuring that the NEC, which is nearly 20 years old, is fit for the 21st century.”