MALAYSIA’S premier purpose-built venue, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre has seen a significant increase in demand for in-person events with up to 127 global meetings (51 conventions and 76 exhibitions) booked at the venue from 2022 to 2024.
Since the country opened its international borders and eased meetings and events restrictions in April, the centre has hosted close to 300 in-person events that welcomed about 200,000 delegates and guests.
“We definitely are seeing an improvement in Malaysia’s business events landscape after two years which were heavily impacted by the pandemic,” shared its general manager Alan Pryor. “We hosted a record number of corporate open houses this year during the Hari Raya season, hosting up to five dinners and thousands of guests in one night.”
The ease of doing business in Malaysia, its experienced supply chain and the wide spread use and proficiency of English are among the primary factors attracting global events to the country, according to Pryor.
“We are steadfast in transforming ourselves into a sustainable venue that positively contributes to our city and country,” he noted.
Added Pryor: “This year alone we have pioneered the first public-private sector partnership to advance our collective sustainability goals, placed AI (artificial intelligence)-powered technologies to manage food waste and encourage recycling, and established the groundwork to make the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) precinct a sustainable destination for all visitors and guests.”
The KL Convention Centre continues to win bids to host major international conventions with the most recent being an architectural convention in 2024 and medical convention in 2026 with expected delegate counts of 6,000 and 5,000 respectively.
Recently, the venue was also recognised with the EventseumTM Hall of Fame 2021 Global Innovation Award for Asia and the ‘Muslim-Friendly Convention and Exhibition Centre of the Year’ by Halal in Travel Awards 2022.
The award-winning venue is also seeing strong traction in the return of live entertainments events in its 3,000-seater Plenary Hall.
Most recently, Nigel Ng a.k.a. Uncle Roger, a global comedy sensation recently humoured his Malaysian fans. From now until end-2022, the centre will be hosting at least six more concerts and stand-up comedians featuring prominent names like Jim Jeffries; Kim Jae-Joong, who is returning to Malaysia after 12 years; the global heartthrob, Calum Scott; and the Southeast Asian sensations, Anuar and Ziana Zain, among others.
The centre’s upcoming events calendar includes the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2022 (IGARSS 2022); International Medical Exhibition & Conference (IMEC EXPO) 2022; the Sixth Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Congress (APGC) 2022; International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference (IGEM) 2022; International Congress on Infectious Diseases 2022; IEEE International Instrumentation & Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC) 2023, to name a few. – June 30, 2022
