New vision for Malaysia as a meetings hub

CEO of Malaysia’s National Convention Bureau, MYCEB, Azman Haji Tambi Chik, talks to CMW about the country’s strategy for developing its MICE business.

In your new role as the CEO of MyCEB, what is your vision for Malaysia as a a premium business events, destination? We are calibrating with our neighbouring countries to be our own ‘Event Manager’ to create homegrown events. We’re seeing a lot of international organisers bringing their events to Malaysia, which we certainly appreciate, but we’re taking this further to creating business events internally – to fill the calendar. Recently, we just had Defence Services Asia (DSA) & National Security Asia (NATSEC) 2024 exhibitions at MITEC, Kuala Lumpur, which showed Malaysia’s prominence in the global defence and security arenas. So, I believe Malaysia has this opportunity to become a hub, the best hub, in South East Asia for business events. Sustainability is an integral part of all events these days, so what is MyCEB doing in terms of contributing or helping each region of Malaysia achieve their sustainable goals? We certainly give priority for sustainability activities. Now we are working closely with the Government and with Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (MACEOS), to deliver our sustainability programme in all regions, especially with key event venues in Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang and Sabah. We’re supporting the global Net Zero Carbon Events initiative – urging our regional partners to integrate sustainable practices, offering awareness and training programmes for their members. Additionally, MACEOS collaborates with Jabatan Standards Malaysia to develop and regulate standards for convention and exhibition requirements, ensuring global business continuity and quality in the industry. Without this, we are not able to compete with other destinations. This is also relevant to all new infrastructure projects. The Malaysian government is planning to build a new centre besides MITEC. MITEC can only cater up to 10,000 people, but we need more space. And, by integrating our sustainability programme into the build, I believe we’ll become one of the best hubs in South Asia for business events. Malaysia has a very rich cultural heritage. How do you use local culture to attract and add value to business events? We work with the ministry of tourism, arts and culture (MOTAC) when bidding for events. Malaysia is a multicultural nation with a rich diversity of indigenous groups. Each community boasts its own distinct traditions, festivals, and cultural practices, creating a vibrant mosaic of cultural opportunities for business events. We have traditional centres and the use of cultural enthusiasts from MOTAC. From our side (MyCEB), we offer traditional incentive opportunities, gala dinners with cultural dancers, along with traditional Malaysian cuisine. Are there any particular emerging markets that MyCEB is targeting – to bring in business events? Besides the homegrown events, we’re working closely with TCEB (Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau). We have created a combo package for business events, meaning that TCEB may secure an event to Bangkok, for example, but instead of a three-day event being held exclusively in one location, they might spend 2-3 days in Thailand and extend the trip to include 1-2 days in Malaysia. And vice-versa. So, we’re opening up our markets to one another. What are the the key economic sectors in Malaysia? What type of events do you typically attract? Aligned with the Malaysia Business Events Strategic Marketing Plan 2021 – 2030, MyCEB is dedicated to executing action plans designed to profile and strengthen the Malaysian business events industry. This involves addressing each business event segment pertinent to various countries. As part of this effort, the bureau is promoting the MyTripleE campaign, which prioritises the Automobile, Environment, Pharmaceutical, and Science sectors. MyTripleE is a support initiative under MyCEB’s Meet in Malaysia campaign, which aims to attract regional and international business events to Malaysia. Can you tell me more about Visit Malaysia 2026? Visit Malaysia 2026 is an initiative launched by Tourism Malaysia earlier in the year. The initiative is to focus on promoting Malaysia both internationally and domestically in collaboration with industry stakeholders. The aim is to attract 35.6m tourists and generate RM147.1bn (US$31.2bn) in receipts for Visit Malaysia 2026. The Visit Malaysia 2026 roadmap is built on three core strategies: creating demand, increasing traffic, and prioritising target markets. MyCEB’s role is to increase efforts to bring in further business events to Malaysia. In partnership with the main regions, we collectively capture leads from industry trade shows and events with a view to doubling the events held in Malaysia. How important is incentive travel to Malaysia? Hugely important. We’re building a new product, which has been 50% accepted by top management. The incentive is to not only include the event manager, but the tourist agent, too. This we feel will increase the numbers to Malaysia. Are the are you seeing an increase in flight connections to Malaysia? Oh yes, it’s back to normal and especially from China. Is China Malaysia’s biggest market for events? Yes. In June, we have about 10,000 participants coming to Malaysia. Are there any significant infrastructure developments going on at present or in the pipeline? We have new three new hotels being built in Malacca. New hotels in Penang, Sabah and Sarawak. And we’re hoping the government is seriously looking into the possibility of a convention centre in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, or anywhere else in Malaysia for that matter, just to cater for the demand. There is also the new convention centre in Sarawak (BCCK 2), which will bolster Sarawak’s business events market by increasing the site’s capacity for international, large-format events and exhibitions. n