UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2023 hosted in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s Business Events industry welcomed the prestigious UFI Asia-Pacific Conference 2023 (The Conference) in Kuala Lumpur today. Held over the next two days, the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) supported conference will be attended by more than 200 delegates from 22 countries, in which 150 of them will be international. The Conference will generate RM2.8 million in estimated economic impact.
The Conference is a flagship event by UFI, which is the global association of the exhibition industry and is highly anticipated by exhibition organisers, venue operators as well as event industry associations, government bodies and many more service providers. In every edition, the Conference addresses pertinent topics that push the segment to break boundaries and accelerate growth, making it a sought-after business event by hosting destinations.
YB Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) said that UFI’s presence in Malaysia held significant meaning to the overall tourism industry of the country. “As international travels are being restored to its vibrancy, MOTAC is proactively supporting business events activities that will attract high-yield delegates to Malaysia and also promoting our country as an international business events destination. I am excited to welcome the delegates of UFI to experience our country and recognise the great work between MyCEB and UFI,” commented YB.
YBhg. Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani, CEO of MyCEB commented, “As an important driver of global economic growth, the business events industry is rising at a rapid pace again. We are fortunate to have won the confidence of UFI and this Conference represents their trust in us to add value to UFI’s global following. On behalf of Malaysia, we strongly believe the hosting of this conference will bridge the gap in strengthening the current portfolio that exhibitions in Malaysia hold, whilst securing more high-profile business events in the future through connections and recognition.”
Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani also said that “MyCEB was fortunate to conclude 2022 with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with UFI to introduce the UFI Certified Professional (UCP) qualification in Malaysia. Moving forward, we truly hope the overall partnership with UFI will address the exhibition industry in Malaysia in tackling the challenges faced through the global sharing of key learning strategies to advance the industry. Malaysia is expected to speed up in welcoming a growing number of business events this year, with more than 47 events won with an estimated 75,000 local and international arrivals.”
The Conference brings more than just foot traffic and economic growth but also contributes to the socio-economic level of the country, especially knowledge transfer. As UFI’s first conference since 2019 in Tokyo, the Malaysian edition will be shedding light on the exhibition industry’s risks navigation, ways of overcoming the volatility of global economic pressures, the role of technologies, new opportunities and effective advocacies all from a global perspective. The Conference is also expected to spur the UFI membership in Malaysia as well as the country’s ranking in the SEA region.
Kai Hattendorf, Managing Director of UFI said, “The time is right for us to reactivate the Conferences as a face-to-face event as we went on a multi-year hiatus due to the pandemic. We are glad to have chosen Malaysia for this ‘restart’ event for the exhibition industry in Asia. Malaysia lived up to our expectations from the infrastructure, to facilities, cascading to the strong working ethics of Malaysians. These are the qualities required to realise a successful exhibition and MyCEB truly resonates with how we envisioned the industry to flourish moving forward.”
Since MyCEB’s establishment, Malaysia has successfully hosted 235 exhibitions that welcomed 2.5 million visitors and generated RM5.9 billion in Malaysia’s estimated economic impact. For the future, Malaysia is set to host WePACK ASEAN 2023, Food and Drinks Malaysia 2023 and Intelligent Manufacturing 2023. These events are estimated to welcome 8,800 local and international visitors and is estimated to generate RM26.6 million in economic impact which will rapidly contribute to the growth of the BE industry and the country’s tourism performance.
Find out more about MyCEB here.
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