The association of the world’s leading tradeshow organisers and exhibition centres, UFI announced that Malaysia will play host to the 13th UFI Asia Pacific Conference. The announcement was made at the 12th UFI Asia Seminar, held in Singapore recently.
The Malaysian delegation led by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and co-organisers, Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) were given the honour to showcase the nation’s expertise and thriving business opportunities after working together to successfully secure the bid for 2018.
As the leading global association of the world’s tradeshow organisers and exhibition centre operators, as well as the major national and international exhibition associations, UFI’s main goal is to represent, promote and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry. It directly represents approximately 50,000 exhibition industry employees globally, and also works closely with its 55 national and regional associations members in 84 countries.
With over 900 international trade fairs who proudly bear the UFI approved label, a quality guarantee for visitors and exhibitors alike, the 13th UFI Asia Pacific Conference in 2018 will be Malaysia’s second successful time after hosting the event a decade ago in 2009. The seminar is expected to be an immense opportunity for Malaysia to create business opportunities by attracting global decision makers and leaders of the industry, while increasing awareness in the potential exhibition market.
With an average GDP growth of 5 per cent, Malaysia is already a fast-emerging economy in the ASEAN region, which has a combined population of 622 million and a GDP of USD 2.31 trillion. The 13th UFI Asia Pacific Conference is expected to generate RM1.8million in economic impact to the country and fully demonstrate the country’s growth potential to become the preferred exhibition platform within South East Asia region.
“Hosting the 13th UFI Asia Pacific Conference will be an excellent opportunity for us to promote Malaysia and showcase our country given the accelerated pace of infrastructure developments taking place. The event will also provide a platform for our local industry players to engage and learn from experts in the industry as we discuss growth and challenges that impact the exhibition industry.
“Malaysia has already raised its profile internationally for conventions and meetings and having the UFI Asia Pacific Conference here will further support our goals to expand the exhibition market share, an important segment of our business. Business events have been recognised as one of the key contributors towards Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme to reach developed nation status by 2010” said Ho Yoke Ping, General Manager of Business Events, MyCEB.
Mark Cochrane, UFI’s Regional Manager in Asia Pacific, commented, “UFI is pleased to bring this event back to Kuala Lumpur in 2018. The last time we held this event in Kuala Lumpur was in 2009 and since then market in Malaysia has gone from strength to strength. We expect that the 13th edition of the UFI Asia Pacific Conference will, yet again, offer the exhibition industry in Asia a powerful platform to learn about the latest trends and to network with industry leaders from across Asia. We look forward to working with the team at MyCEB and MACEOS in the months ahead!”
