Sarawak eyes RM1b a year from MICE

 

SARAWAK expects to make more than RM1 billion a year from holding meetings, conferences and exhibitions in the state.

The state government had recently opened the Borneo convention centre in Kuching, which can accommodate close to 3,000 delegates at any one time.

"There is also another similar development going on in Miri whereby a smaller convention centre is being built. This centre can hold up to 1,000 to 1,500 persons in one go.

"We have also five hotels under construction for the next two to three years," said Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) chairman Datuk Seri Muhammad Leo Michael Toyad.

SCB was set up in 2006 to help local organisations bid for international conferences to be held in Sarawak.

"So far, we had successfully bid for 91 conferences with estimated earnings close to RM97 million.

"The spin off from such conferences are great. Singapore makes close to RM196 billion a year from MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) activities alone," he told the Business Times in an interview recently.

Muhammad said SCB has a RM4 million annual grant from the state government to help non-governmental organisations bid for international conferences.

"We only help them with the bidding process whereby the cost of organising the project is not born by SCB," said Muhammad.

The bureau has a strong marketing team to accompany these organisations abroad. This included the bureau's chief executive officer Jill Henry and even high profile government officers such as ministers. The success rate so far is 72 per cent.

He said many international organisations have shown keen interest in holding their annual conferences in Sarawak.

"For next year we hope to bid for another 28 projects which is close to RM30 million in earnings which includes conferences from industries such as the medical sector," he said.

For this year alone, Muhammad said SCB recorded close to 17,640 delegates who had participated in various conferences.

"Once we are established in MICE, the spin off from such investments are great as we estimate that it can generate more than RM1 billion a year for the state government," he added.