KUCHING, July 8: Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) has outperformed its fiscal year 2022 targets in a stellar fashion.
Achieving a projected total economic impact of RM325.3 million from 100 secured events, exceeding the secured events target by 111% and surpassing other economic returns by 196%.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Abang Abdul Karim Tun Abang Openg highlighted BESarawak remarkable success in generating RM177.3 million in direct delegate expenditure and RM19.6 million in tax revenue.
“Sarawak also achieved remarkable success in international bidding, securing 100% victory in all bids with a projected total economic impact of RM179.4 million and over 14,000 job opportunities on the horizon, making Financial Year 2022 (FY2022) the most successful bidding year compared to the last two years.
“FY2022 marked the business events industry’s third year in executing the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he said in a statement.
As such, one of the industry’s objectives is to align with the PCDS 2030 by focusing on securing sustainable, legacy-driven business events from the 6 priority economic sectors (manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, forestry, mining and services) and seven enabler sectors (digital transformation, innovation, education & human capital, basic infrastructure, utilities, transport and renewable energy).
He noted that ensuring that local communities benefit from these events, an additional 25,896 jobs are expected to arise.
Karim disclosed with face to face meetings back in full swing, it said 100 business events were successfully hosted in the same year, worth a total economic impact of RM230.3 million.
While, direct delegate expenditures injected another RM125.1 million into the economy, while 18,275 short and long term jobs were created within the last 12 months.
“We stayed on track in securing events of key interests aligned with the Sarawak Government’s objectives of stimulating economic and social growth, while growing our core business, optimising costs and opportunities and strengthening Sarawak’s stakeholder collaborations and talent pool to boost industry competence.
“Through business events, Sarawak is laying the foundation for sustainable development with the intention of leaving a transformative impact on local communities for years to come,” he added.
Meanwhile, its CEO Amelia Roziman said Sarawak is becoming widely recognised worldwide as a legacy impact destination, where business events are optimised to leave a positive and lasting impact on society.
“The Tribe Legacy Sarawak campaign contributed to much of Sarawak’s success in the year.
“Our central narrative has been unlocking value and accelerating growth by evaluating meetings based on their ability to generate revenue and do good for the world.
“Sarawak is one of the few in the world to dive into legacy impact as a value proposition and it is proving to help us succeed in securing events that will contribute back to the economy and society,” she noted.
Between 2006 and 2022, Sarawak hosted 1,082 business events with a total economic impact of RM3.23 billion providing more than 258,000 job opportunities to the local communities. – TVS
