KUCHING, Jan 8: Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the world’s largest network of business events strategists, Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in San Francisco, USA yesterday.
BESarawak, a non-profit company under Sarawak Convention Bureau, said in a statement that the signing of the MoU was to collaborate with PCMA to mark Sarawak as the first second-tier destination to unite with global association giants in providing business events to the community.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said in terms of vision, Sarawak was moving towards mobilising the business events and tourism industry as game changers.
 “Merging this industry with tourism can and will strengthen our economic impact.
“However, there is a greater cause than the dollars and cents we make. It is the community.
“My vision is to make Sarawak a prominent driver for social and economic transformation in Asia; by standing with PCMA to deliver high impact business events,” Abdul Karim, who is also Minister of Youth and Sports, said in his speech before the MoU signing in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, BESarawak chairman Tan Sri Dr. Muhammad Leo Toyad reiterated the significance of the business events industry: “In 2020, Sarawak is moving forward with its Legacy Impact Programme that is aligned to PCMA’s vision of change.”
He said the programme was braced by four fundamental pillars of impacts: advancing the field, community benefits, economic outcomes and public policy, which are driven by 27 components of change for social, economic and government communities.
Meanwhile, the MoU signing was part of an industry trip to San Francisco organised by BESarawak that brought the first ever Sarawak delegation to attend PCMA Convening Leaders.
It revealed that the delegates were from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (TROPI), Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), CPH Travel, Conference People, Events Horizon and Techno Expo. —DayakDaily
