(Pictured from left: Stuart Ruff-Lyon, Amelia Roziman, Sherrif Karamat, Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Dr. Muhammad Leo Toyad, and Hii Chang Kee)
PCMA, the world’s largest platform for business events professionals, and Business Events Sarawak signed a memorandum of understanding Jan. 7 to develop a partnership that provides education, business development opportunities and increases awareness of the transformative power of business events.
The signing ceremony with PCMA and Sarawak, Malaysia delegates occurred during Convening Leaders, PCMA’s signature annual event, in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The MOU is effectively immediately through Dec. 31, 2022.
“This agreement with Business Events Sarawak is completely aligned with PCMA’s vision and growth, as both organizations share the same goal—to demonstrate how business events transform societies, businesses and communities,” says Sherrif Karamat, PCMA president and CEO. “We look forward to collaborating with Business Events Sarawak as they elevate the influence of business events and Malaysia’s profile as a destination.”
The memorandum calls for business events training and education to help showcase Sarawak’s unique value proposition to international associations and corporate markets in addition to developing the local meetings industry.
“Sarawak has already begun its quest to position business events as economic and community game-changers in the region through the Legacy Impact Program,” says Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Sarawak minister of tourism, arts and culture. “The program is focused on four pillars of legacies which are advancing the field, community benefits, economic outcome and public policy; driven by 27 drivers.”
BESarawak, Malaysia’s pioneer business events bureau, hosted a distinct gathering of business events strategists, industry leaders and government officials from Asia Pacific at Convening Leaders to network with some of the world’s most prominent figures in the industry and discuss current growth strategies and disruptors.
The Sarawak delegation—part of a record number of Asia-Pacific participants at Convening Leaders—included Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah; Hii Chang Kee, permanent secretary, ministry of tourism, arts and culture, Sarawak; Tan Sri Dato Sri Dr. Muhammad Leo Toyad, chairman, Business Events Sarawak; and Amelia Roziman, chief operating officer, Business Events Sarawak.
Other participants included representatives from Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, Techno Expo, Events Horizon, Conference People, CPH Travel, Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute, Sarawak Forestry Corporation and the Sarawak government.
Sarawak’s four senior representatives also attended PCMA’s Leadership Summit preceding the conference on Jan. 5. In its second year, the Leadership Summit aims to bring together a core international group of association CEOs, corporate leaders and municipal leaders to create diversified and sustainable opportunities for economic and social prosperity through business events.
PCMA believes that business events can economically and socially transform communities, enterprises and individuals. As the world’s largest platform for business events strategists and their business partners, PCMA’s success is driven by a commitment to providing provocative executive level education, face-to-face networking and business intelligence to its global audience of 7,000 professionals and students. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 17 chapters throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico with members in more than 40 countries and regional offices in Switzerland and Singapore. For more info, visit pcma.org
Founded in 2006, Business Events Sarawak by Sarawak Convention Bureau is the first business events bureau in Malaysia and is fully funded by the Sarawak government. It serves as a platform for associations, corporate organizations and government bodies to be connected with the right elements to plan and organize every business event.
