With the increase in immunisation over the last few months, Malaysian are relieved to see that the number of new cases is in the downward trend. It is also encouraging to see that many business sectors are now allowed to be reopened which will go well with the economic recovery for the country.

In this context, the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) as the lead agency for the business events industry has pleaded to the Malaysian Government to reopen the fully vaccinated business events industry soonest possible. 

Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani Daud, CEO of MyCEB underscored that it is crucial that the government understand that business events "can operate safely and responsibly under strict SOPs" and "should be categorised as business activity".

He emphasises that "The importance of the business events industry in contributing to economic recovery and affirms the Government’s confidence that the sector can operate safely, and provide a controlled, regulated, and secure environment for the commencement of business events." This includes contact tracing of all event attendees and strict compliance with government guidelines on hygiene and physical distancing.

Since its establishment, MyCEB has helped the country to secure more than 1,300 events since 2010-2020 and delivering an estimated impact of some RM11.4 billion in total. With the support from the industry, MyCEB has also successfully supported 2,600 events which translated to RM16.7 billion in estimated economic impact from the year 2010 up to the year 2020. 

Business events is not social gathering as its activities includes corporate & governmental meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and incentive travel groups. These activities do not only bring a huge direct economic impact to the country, but more importantly the content creation, exchange of ideas, professional development, investment opportunities, job creations and long-lasting legacy affect to the community. 

As a matter of fact, the last few months has seen the business events industry rising to the occasion as “front-liners” whereby around 20 purposed-built convention centres around the country have served the nation as mega vaccination centres, including hundreds of business events (BE) Volunteers helping millions of Malaysians to get their vaccine doses.

Unfortunately, since the pandemic, Malaysia has recorded 57 postponements and 66 cancellations of international events. Despite the challenging times, MyCEB continues to work with the stakeholders in bidding for international events whereby 164 business events have been secured from 2022 to 2030.