By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, April 17: The Sarawak Pavilion will return to the Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings, and Events (IMEX) Frankfurt trade show in Germany from May 14–16 for the second year, with the goal of making Sarawak more recognisable and identifiable around the world.
According to Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts (MTCP), Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, IMEX Frankfurt is a key international event for business events.
“Last year, they recorded over 11,000 visitors and Sarawak attracted approximately 20 per cent of this number to the inaugural pavilion.
“We shall leverage this year’s potential footfall and our strong relationship with the IMEX Frankfurt team to generate opportunities with international players,” he told reporters during a press conference today at Baitul Makmur II Building here.
Abdul Karim revealed the IMEX talking points this year are centred around the significance of creating an impact, with the goal of bringing together the global event community through business and gastronomy.
“IMEX Frankfurt is an excellent tradeshow to promote Sarawak as a business events destination and make us recognisable and identifiable to the world.
“IMEX has the right audience of business event planners who are prioritising solutions for environmental, social, and governance issues; Sarawak’s Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 can contribute to their mission. Hence, the PCDS 2030 will be one of three key talking points,” he added.
Business Event Sarawak (BESarawak) chief executive officer Amelia Roziman stated that the Sarawak Pavilion generated 161 business leads at IMEX Frankfurt last year.
“There is a distinction between having a pavilion and having a tabletop. We had 30 business leads with a table top, but with our own pavilion, it was 161. This is a 437 per cent increase.
“When we were there under the federal (authority) with the tabletop, we only received approximately RM482,000 in terms of media value. But with our own pavilion, we had approximately RM1 million. So it’s roughly 116 per cent (increase).
“So our goal this year is to generate 360 business leads, RM1.4 million in media value, and approximately 2,000 visitors. So the number is quite impressive for the first time because, as people begin to learn about Sarawak, the State has its own pavilion. However, I believe we can do better in our second year, which is this year,” she remarked.
Also present at the press conference were MTCP Sarawak Deputy Minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan, MTCP Sarawak permanent secretary Datu Sherrina Hussaini, and other officials. — DayakDaily
