Hosting business events must now be viewed through a holistic lens, said MyCEB CEO Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani Daud at the opening of the 7th Meet in Malaysia @ Malaysia Business Events Week.
The Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) projects that
in-person events will accelerate post-pandemic with a bigger purpose of
uniting stakeholders to drive actions and make a larger social impact.
Speaking at the 7th edition of Meet in Malaysia @ Malaysia Business
Events Week (MBEW) on Monday, 29 August, MyCEB CEO Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani
Daud, said while in the past the world viewed hosting business events
primarily in financial terms, taking into account registration fees,
delegate numbers and hotel room nights, that is no longer the case.
"We now view these [events] as mission driven, with purpose and longer-term goal achievements,” he said.
“The most impactful sustainable business events advance the cause
through creative ways, going beyond the traditional to integrate new
opportunities designed to engage attendees and benefit and `give back’
to host communities.”
Practising what it preaches, MyCEB purposely organised the MBEW with
sustainability in mind. Strategies included minimising the event’s
carbon footprint through reducing food waste, avoiding single-use
plastics, and including a CSR programme with Zoo Negara, collaborating
with Kloth Malaysia to slash unwanted clothing ending up in landfill.
Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani Daud said expanding partnerships between
business events and CSR-focused organisations is vital for the business
event sector to move forward, and is especially relevant at a
country-to-country and government-to-government level.
The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation reflects the keen exchange of knowledge, data and resources between Malaysia and Indonesia’s business events stakeholders.Demonstrating this, a Memorandum of Cooperation between Malaysia and
Indonesia industry stakeholders was signed during the event with the aim
to share experiences knowledge, data and resources.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC), Dato Sri
Hajah Nancy Shukri, said in the short and mid-term, the business events
industry’s recovery will ride on regional recovery.
“This strategic collaboration, based on common goals and assets, but
also celebrating differentiators, will lead to new opportunities for
more business events, leading to more Indonesian business event
delegates to Malaysia and vice versa,” she said.
The strategic collaboration between stakeholders in Malaysia and Indonesia will lead to new opportunities in the business events sector, said Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, Dato Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri.“Malaysia and Indonesia already have a close tourism relationship as
top five source markets for the other,” added MOTAC secretary general,
Datuk Hajah Saraya Arbi.
“This MoC will help increase more business events delegates for both nations.”
Even at the height of the pandemic, where international borders were
closed, collaboration with industry, government partners, and
prospective local hosts saw MyCEB win 166 event bids for business events
from 2022 through until 2030.
With a stronger focus of these events on sustainability and corporate
social responsibility initiatives it is certainly a very exciting time
for the business event sector in Malaysia and for its key partners.