'Innovation key to Malaysia events growth'

Innovation is the key to Malaysia's business events growth, said Martin Sirk, chief executive officer of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

He stressed this point while speaking at the think tank session on how to strengthen Malaysia's competitiveness in the global business events market on Tuesday. The session was held during the inaugural Malaysia Meetings Innovation Day Seminar 2011, organised by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), and co-hosted by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

Themed, "Meeting Outside the Box", the event also sought to encourage and nurture innovative thinking among industry players, thus improving Malaysia's ranking as an international meetings destination.

"The combination of growth and innovation is what that drives the development of the region's meetings industry, and it is no surprise to see Malaysia at the forefront of this trend," Sirk said. Malaysia's goal is to be one of the top five meetings destinations in the Asia-Pacific by 2020. According to the ICCA rankings, it is currently positioned at number seven with a 24 per cent increase in the number of international conventions held last year.

Sirk also lauded the efforts of the government and private sector in investing strongly in terms of infrastructure, professional education as well as raising standards of the industry.

"I see the inclusion of international meetings in the country's Economic Transformation Programme as symptomatic of their clear understanding of the industry's strategic importance," he said. -- Bernama