The Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (MACEOS) is co-exhibit with the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to promote business events in the 2022 Keluarga Malaysia Citrawarna programme from February 24 to 26 at Kuching Waterfront, Sarawak. This Malaysia’s annual cultural festival is organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
MACEOS Sarawak Region Chair, Gracie Geikie said that with Malaysia’s borders remaining closed to international travel, industry players will continue to support homegrown events. “Business events here in Sarawak has seen a sharp pivot from international conferences to homegrown events and conferences initiated and supported by our state government. This has given some breathing space to us while we tide through the border closures and await for VTLs and finally unrestricted travel,” she said.
As a national association representing the interests of the business events community, MACEOS has been championing the importance of business events for the economy, especially in multi-sectoral recovery since the pandemic began.
MACEOS President, Francis Teo, said, “Business events are an efficient means of supporting the recovery and advancement of a wide range of economic, professional, academic and business sectors. As a result, they can drive activation, renewal and re-engagement across the many different industries that will need to be stimulated to deliver a broad-based recovery rather than simply addressing a limited range of these sectors individually.”
Trade events act as a one-stop central hub where business can be conducted through networking, marketing, investing, sharing of open data, and creating value, all of which can drive businesses and positively impact an industry.
Business events industry players in Malaysia, led by MACEOS, have been advocating for the safe and speedy reopening of business events following the success of the country’s vaccination programme, testing efficiency, and management of the pandemic.
“Our SafeBE label under Travel Safe Alliance Malaysia assures government, industry players, exhibitors, suppliers and visitors that international trade exhibitions, meetings, and conferences are ready to resume in Malaysia,” he said.
“We’ve been working closely with the MyCEB, the agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, to discuss strategies and solutions for post-pandemic recovery and to ensure a smooth reopening of the business events industry,” he added.
In support of National Tourism Policy 2020-2030, MACEOS will work collectively with MyCEB to assist local authorities involved in destination management to establish in-house Business Events units.
Gracie shared, “Sarawak Convention Bureau (known as Business Events Sarawak) is an excellent example of a state bureau that has promoted Sarawak and Malaysia actively in the global market.”
MACEOS is also playing an instrumental role in ensuring the business events workforce in Malaysia continues to be strong and resilient. Teo said that many industry practitioners had switched jobs to other sectors during the pandemic, and fresh graduates remained jobless, posing a potential talent shortage in the future.
“MACEOS will launch an online recruitment platform for the business events industry by the first quarter of 2022. We need to bring these people back to the business events industry by creating more job opportunities,” he said.
Training and education was another avenue that MACEOS is focusing on to support capacity building and sharpen talent. “All these initiatives are efforts by MACEOS to keep being engaged with our stakeholders, namely the government, our members, and industry players, as we continue to adapt and strategise for an industry revival,” he added.
