We shine a focus on Sarawak, the state leading the way for legacy and ESG in Malaysia’s meeting firmament Sarawak, the largest of Malaysia’s 13 states, is one of the few destinations worldwide where business events is counted on the government’s list of priority sectors for driving economic prosperity. Moreover, that economic boost that business events are delivering comes with a strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) element and impact in Borneo. It is an approach underlined by Amelia Roziman, CEO of the local CVB, BESarawak, who sees the unique selling point of the state as being “its strong value in developing business events for impact on ESG agendas”. “Yielding convention legacies is our key direction and will be for the next few years,” Roziman says. “Since Sarawak’s business events industry was added to the Sarawak government’s list as one of the key sectors to achieve economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability by 2030, legacy impact is even more significant than ever before.” The Sarawak government created a strategy called the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy, PCDS 2030. PCDS is vital to the growth of the meetings industry because there is now an alignment strategy to help event planners make an even bigger impact in the state. “We believe that business events today should be measured by their broader impacts rather than economic impact alone,” Roziman’ adds. For the conventions and exhibitions segment, the Sarawak focus is on clinching events from the 13 sectors targeted for growth as listed on PCDS (these are branched into two groups: six economic sectors which are manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, forestry, mining and services; and seven enabler sectors which are digital transformation, innovation, education & human capital, basic infrastructure, utilities, transport and renewable energy). With an alignment strategy and a sharp focus on legacy impact, the state secured 100 events in 2022 worth MYR 326.3m (US$74m) in total economic impact. These events (for 2023 onwards) are forecast to create 25,896 jobs in Sarawak. BESarawak exceeded its target by 111% – evidence that planners are attracted to Sarawak’s legacy vision and access to government resources. Last year Sarawak hosted 100 events which brought a total economic impact of MYR 218.4m; for local communities, these events supported another 15,891 jobs. Roziman adds that, from a qualitative perspective, these events had 548 impact touchpoints – meaning that they touched on either the six economic and seven enabler sectors based on PCDS or the legacy impact pillars which are sectoral, social, economic, environmental and or political and some of the 17 UN SDGs. BESarawak even measures the success of these events as to whether the topics align with Legacy Impact Pillars; fall under the PCDS’ sectors or align with the UN SDGs. 
Sustainability Sustainability is also a big part of the meetings and events agenda in Sarawak. Roziman again: “While we work our way to become an ecologically sustainable business event and tourism destination by participating in the Global Destination Sustainability Index again for 2023, we are paying close attention to how business events contribute to social and cultural sustainability i.e., securing job opportunities for local communities, engaging with social enterprises and NGOs. We now have a Legacy Impact & Sustainability unit in BESarawak to further work on legacy and sustainability initiatives and provide planners with extra support when it comes to planning for sustainable, legacy-driven events.” New venues in the region include the Mercure Miri City Centre (hotel) recently opened in Sarawak’s northern city of Miri and the Sheraton hotel in the state capital of Kuching is due to open in Q3 this year. Among the main events held in March in Kuching City (South Sarawak) were the 3rd BIMP-EAGA TVET Conference 2023, which attracted 400 delegates to the Pullman Hotel; the Asia Carbon Conference 2023 for 500 delegates, also in the Pullman, and the Global Surgery Conference 2023, which brought 500 delegates to The Waterfront Hotel. Over in Miri City (North Sarawak), the Pullman Miri Waterfront hosted 400 delegates for the Malaysia Law Conference 2023, while Sibu City (Central Sarawak) hosted the Sarawak Nursing Conference 2023 at the Kingwood Hotel for 400 delegates. 
IMEX Frankfurt Looking forward to the end of May and Sarawak will debut at global trade industry trade show IMEX Frankfurt with an inaugural stand-alone pavilion – providing an introduction for visitors into the destination’s sustainable practices. The pavilion – Tribe Legacy Sarawak – by BESarawak is themed ‘Business Events Support Community Development’, is designed to be a celebration of the industry’s strong involvement with local communities in the state. Visitors can find the Tribe Legacy Sarawak pavilion at stand number B230 and meet with Sarawak’s six exhibiting industry partners:
- Borneo Convention Centre Kuching
- Pullman Kuching and Pullman Miri Waterfront Hotel
- Tourism and hospitality services provider Hemisphere Corporation
- Professional conference organisers ARC Creators
- Place Borneo
- Destination management company CPH Travel Agencies.
Staying true to the theme of community development, the pavilion floor programme in Frankfurt will focus on key talking points such as Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030, where curated plenaries will highlight the strategy’s six economic sectors and seven enabler sectors targeted for growth by the Sarawak government. the pavilion will also feature an exhibition on Sarawak’s legacy impact development. As Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Sarawak’s minister of tourism and the creative industry, has noted: “PCDS is a pivotal government strategy for Sarawak to achieve economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability by 2030.” “We are encouraging associations, destination marketing organisations and convention and visitor bureaux from around the world to meet at the pavilion and discuss how we can collaborate to develop legacy impact and sustainability together,” adds Roziman. On the first day of the show, 23 May, the Sarawak team will unveil a three-year Legacy Impact Master Action Plan. Clearly Sarawak’s meetings events industry has a very strong relationship with the state government which can ensure organisers that their business events are well supported and have a strong chance of achieving a legacy beyond the horizon of the event itself. And exploring convention legacies can create strategic opportunities for investment, government, and commercial and research collaborations, all of which is key to nurturing a fitting legacy plan.
