Kuala Lumpur one step closer to re-opening

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has welcomed the recent Malaysian Government announcements about domestic travel and tourism bubbles, on the back of the Centre closing as a large-scale vaccination centre (PPV). Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri, the Malaysian prime minister, announced the update allowing domestic and overseas travel for all fully vaccinated Malaysians from 11 October. The Government is implementing a National Recovery Plan (NRP), which aims to assist the recovery of the country’s economic sector. Alan Pryor, general manager of KLCC, said: “We at the Centre are keeping optimistic that this positive news will steer towards the full resumption of business events (BE) in the near future. With small meetings with 50% physical capacity, we are hopeful that the domestic travel relaxation, the continued success of the travel bubbles and the closer we get towards reaching the national immunisation goal, will all soon pave the way towards allowing the BE sector to fully operate, based on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).” The business events industry, as detailed in the NRP, is currently slated to re-open in phase four, a situation that has resulted in most of the supply chain being closed. Pryor added: “It has given us a great sense of pride and purpose to service the country and our people as a PPV and to have contributed to a national cause during a time of great trials and tribulations.” The Centre recently became the first venue in Malaysia to acquire the ‘Safe Business Events (BE)’, a hygiene label by Bureau Veritas. The Centre has also deployed a series of virtual solutions for event organisers, ranging from remote site-visits to virtual and hybrid event studios.