Malaysia Convention & Exhibition (MyCEB) announced that the non-profit organisation’s CEO, Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani Daud, is retiring as Government Officer effective April 21. Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani’s retirement will bring to a close remarkable career of 38 years of service in the tourism and business events industry.
Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani, the former Director General of Islamic Tourism Centre from 2018 – 2020 played a pertinent role in spearheading efforts to develop a Muslim-friendly Accommodation Recognition programme and created global awareness on Malaysia as tourism destination for Muslim travellers. He is also a pioneer in the tourism sector where he began his career in Tourism Malaysia (TM) in 1985 until he was promoted to Acting Director General. As he earned his stripes at TM, he was posted as an overseas Director to undertake global markets which include Tourism Malaysia’s offices in Australia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand. His outstanding expertise in marketing is proven by an increase of 60% tourist arrivals from Singapore between year 2000 to 2004. During his service period, a 45% growth for Latin America was recorded, opening the market for Argentina.
He was the mastermind and leader of Global Meet 2006 during his tenure as the Advertising Director of Tourism Malaysia for more than a decade. Following in 2018, he was the Organising Chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). He also went into In-Plant Training (Tourism) in Japan under the Look East Policy at Jalpak, a subsidiary of Japan Airline in Tokyo, Japan back in 1997.
An established leader who has been serving Malaysia’s tourism sector for over three decades, Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani is tasked to head the country’s business events industry as he officially took office at MyCEB on 5 February 2020. However, he is no stranger to the national convention bureau as he has been serving MyCEB since 2017 as the Board of Director and Board of Trustees.
Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani is a well-respected leader in the global business events and tourism industry. He has exhibited strong leadership qualities since joining MyCEB and has spearheaded various local and international projects, such as the Meet in Malaysia campaign, which has generated an estimated economic impact of RM1.05 billion for the country from year 2020 – 2022. Additionally, he created the 3R (reset, restart and responsible) initiative, which aimed to help industry players achieve maximum success. This resulted in supporting the participation of 19 industry players in international tradeshows, assisting 50 professionals in obtaining Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM), and helping 114 local partners retain their local and international association memberships.
He also played an instrumental role in the ease of travel to Malaysia where he had formed Business Events Special Lane at major airports to ensure smooth entry process, and MySafe Business Events Planner; a digital planner to assist and guide international business events planners and organisers. He was the driving force behind the 10-year plan, the Malaysia Business Events Strategic Marketing Plan 2021 – 2030 which forecasted by the year 2030, business events are expected to contribute RM42.12 billion in estimated economic impact whilst creating around 25,833 total employment.
Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khai has guided the organisation through several reinventions, including working closely with various ministries to track all business events activities that are taking place in the country. This includes some major events organised by the different ministries such as Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA), Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS), and others. In that respect, MyCEB will be able to gauge the overall figure of the business events economy. As part of global movement, he led the Bureau in joining the Hybrid City Alliance together with other 21 cities around the world and formed Asia Convention Alliance together with Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea. These two initiatives are aimed at strengthening the business events industry for Malaysia and for the region.
