The Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM) is appealing to the Malaysian Government to make a clear distinction between business events and mass gatherings with a view to establishing a restart date for this crucial economic sector. Currently, under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) conferences and exhibitions are prohibited from taking place.
The Chairman of BECM, Mr Alan Pryor, said that it was important that the Government understood that the business events industry can operate safely under comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Malaysia’s business events venues and facilities can offer controlled environments combined with high-quality operational standards to ensure the health and safety of people, which has always been and will continue to be, a primary concern of the business events industry. As such, the sector should not be subject to the mass gathering restrictions that apply to other large-scale events such as weddings, religious gatherings, sports events and concerts.
The comprehensive SOPs, which have been developed by relevant industry sectors with the support of industry associations, incorporate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), food safety measures, air quality control, surface cleaning, and physical and social distancing. Based on the SOPs, Malaysian business event venues will also be required to implement a variety of other measures including temperature checks, thermal cameras, hand sanitisers, reduced touchpoints, contactless transactions and daily monitoring systems.
According to recent reports, Germany’s Government has agreed that exhibitions, trade fairs and congresses, are now on the list of activities that are listed as possible and can potentially resume under strict health and safety controlled conditions, rather than being classed as mass gatherings, which currently remain prohibited in Germany until the end of August.