THE Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (MACEOS) urged the Government to reopen business events to support local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to keep the country’s economy competitive.
“The extended lockdown and prohibition on organising business events in Malaysia have been damaging the country’s competitiveness in the business events industry and robbing the chances for businesses across all sectors to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the association said.
According to MACEOS president Francis Teo, many companies depend on exhibitions as a channel of distribution for their products and services.
In this, business events are where many sales contracts are secured, while for others, it is the most economical platform to market their products and secure clients in business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-employees (B2E).
“We haven’t been able to organise any exhibitions and trade shows for almost two years and yes, it’s hurting all the companies that are involved in organising these business events,” said Teo.
“The bigger repercussion is that micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Malaysia have nowhere to go to market and sell their products and services.”
Teo was responding to the recent call by the Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) urging the Government to allow business events to reopen.
He further lamented that Malaysia was lagging behind in other regions that were already restarting business events, adding that it is crucial that business events restart to remain competitive and support the economy that has been impacted by the pandemic.
Informa Markets Malaysia general manager Gerard Willem Leeuwenburgh concurred with Teo, adding that business events are not mass gatherings but efficiently regulated business meetings that are essential to kickstart economic recovery for the nation.
Informa Markets is the world’s largest trade exhibition organiser.
“People going to these events are vaccinated, identified, registered and have clear targets whom to meet. They want to conduct business, and this can be done in a safe environment.”
According to Leeuwenburgh, governments in the US, UK, China, Germany and many other countries understand and emphasise the importance of business events.
In fact, they have proven that trade exhibitions, organised in a professional manner, do not pose any risk to public health.
“More and more countries are opening the business events industry, also in the region, and Malaysia should not be left behind,” he remarked.
Leeuwenburgh, whose company had not been able to conduct any physical events in Malaysia for almost two years, said that the impact was also profound on the many industries and companies they served, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Our yearly trade exhibitions like Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) for the furniture industry, and Metaltech for the manufacturing and automation industry provide lifelines for our clients to sell their products and services.
“Biennial trade shows like Food & Hotel Malaysia (FHM) for the hospitality industry, Asia Water for water technology, and Oil & Gas Asia for the oil and gas industry do the same.”
On average Informa Markets Malaysia organise 10 trade exhibitions per year in Malaysia, generating hundreds of million ringgits for the Malaysian economy, and providing direct and indirect jobs and employment for thousands more.
Meanwhile, Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) managing director for Asia Pacific Florence Chua observed that the situation is challenging for the region.
“We are behind the global curve in enabling business events to return when Europe, the US and even Latin America are now all back in business,” she justified.
“It is important to allow our industry to reopen, to operate and to gradually pick up the momentum to be competitive.” – Sept 29, 2021
