The agreement signing between BESarawak and UNIMAS was witnessed by the Sarawakian minister of tourism. Photo Credit: BESarawak
Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
(UNIMAS) will be collaborating on the first economic and legacy impact
study in Malaysia – a major breakthrough for the country’s business
events industry.
Under this partnership, two key projects will be implemented.
The first project is an economic impact study that
uses new Sarawak-level economic measurements based on six key economic
sectors to develop a comprehensive economic framework that will record
and report crucial data such as visitor arrivals and revenue generation.
The second project will be a legacy impact study and measurement system
to analyse the wider impact of conferences and exhibitions such as
community development, social responsibility, policy influence, and
investment opportunities.
This will coincide with the development of Malaysia’s first
state-of-the-art dashboard system to monitor, validate, report, and
capture the impact and legacies of business events held in Sarawak.
This system will enable business event planners to track their impact
and provide a holistic picture of their contributions to Sarawak and
beyond.
“We are in the second year of the Legacy Impact Master Action Plan
2023–2025 and this stage is about measuring and verifying event
legacies,” said Hon. Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, minister of
tourism, creative industry and performing arts Sarawak.
The minister pointed to International Water Association World Water
Congress and Exhibition 2028, which will be held in Sarawak, as key
examples of the Malaysian state’s legacy focus.
Describing legacy as an “achievable outcome”, he added: “By 2030,
legacy impact will become a natural process when organising business
events and Sarawak will be positioned as the legacy capital of business
events in Malaysia and Borneo.”