Media Release
BCCK CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS SARAWAK’S PHENOMENAL LEAP IN ICCA’S 2018 RANKING
18 May 2019
Kuching emerged as the 28th most preferred city for business events in the Asia Pacific region, a huge leap from the 75th place it held in 2017. Kuching came in strong after Kuala Lumpur and is the 2nd most attractive business events destination in Malaysia, according to latest report from the International and Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
A second-tiered city (Kuching) hosted 20 international conferences in 2018, up from 6 conferences in 2017. Of which, 7 international conferences were hosted at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK). They included: 17th Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Series Diabetes Asia Conference, 18th Asia-Australasia Conference on Animal Production, 17th Consortium for Globalisation of Chinese Medicine, The 8th Alliance for Healthy Cities General Assembly and among others.
“The BCCK, through excellent leadership, coupled with the unwavering support from team BCCK and team Sarawak has produced stellar results. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all stakeholders for your immeasurable support which enables the BCCK to thrive as a contributor to making Sarawak a competitive second-tier business events destination”, Datuk Hajjah Raziah Mahmud-Geneid, Chairman of Borneo Isthmus Development Sdn Bhd (BID) stated.
The BCCK’s Chief Executive Officer, Eric van Piggelen said, “Earning this significant improvement is quite a feather in her cap for Kuching, Sarawak. We are honoured to have played a role in this success, with BCCK contributing a total of MYR 266.7 million worth of total of economic impact for the BE industry in Sarawak since 2013. This substantial result is a real testament of our strong collaboration between our local industry partners, government bodies and of course, the Business Events Sarawak”.
He further added, “We will be pushing ahead constantly with improving these figures in the long run, and we are extremely proud to have made such a solid contribution to the state of Sarawak.”
Alongside this much welcomed results, BCCK is proud to announce that they have been accepted by The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) as UFI member. UFI is the association of the world’s leading tradeshow organisers and exhibition centre operators, as well as over 50 major national and international exhibition associations, and selected partners of the exhibition industry. From its headquarters in Paris and regional offices in Hong Kong and Kuwait, UFI serves more than 600 member organizations in 85 countries around the world.
“We are honoured to bear the UFI approved label, it allows us to set foot in the trade exhibitions’ world map, another lucrative business event’s segment for BCCK and Kuching. We look forward to embarking on new roadmaps and opportunities in the future for our BE industry here in Sarawak in the coming years”, said Mr. Eric van Piggelen.
ICCA represents the world's leading suppliers such as venues, professional congress organisers, airlines and ground logistic companies accommodating to international business events.
The rankings, which were released by the ICCA, are based on the number of association meetings taking place regularly (annually, biannually), rotating between at least three different countries and with at least 50 participants.