Industry players appeal for the reopening of business events industry

KUALA LUMPUR: The Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM) and the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) have appealed to the government to allow the business events industry to resume its operations.

In a joint statement yesterday, BECM and MACEOS said the business event should be categorised as an economic activity to facilitate economic recovery, not only within the business events industry, but across all economic sectors.

The parties said business events contributed RM3.9 billion in direct expenditure in Malaysia and generated an economic impact of RM9.2 billion in 2019.

“It is also important to the nation’s growth and economic development as it brings in foreign investment into the country. An example is the iconic Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) which contributed US$1.1 billion (US$1=RM4.17) of orders for our furniture manufacturing sector when it was last held in 2019.

“Sadly it has not been able to take place in 2020 and 2021,” they said in an open letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The parties stressed that business events such as trade exhibitions and conferences are highly controlled environments where the movements of each delegate can be accounted for by using the latest technology.

“While these advances were originally introduced to track movements of delegates in order to provide a highly personalised experience to each person, the pandemic has given a new reason for such technology to be implemented,” they said.

The parties also emphasised that, unlike mass gatherings, business events are organised within the purpose-built event space closely managed with entries and exits recorded. — Bernama