Sabah ready for business events

News Date:  April 1, 2022

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Tourism Board (STB) encourages business event (BE) organisers to get assistance from them to hold national and international events in the state.

Sabah Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said both STB and the stakeholders should work collaboratively to prepare for the return of business events as the country’s international borders have reopened.

Speaking at the “BE Get Together” dinner reception here yesterday, Joniston believes Sabah is expected to hold more events in the near future as the state had allocated a RM5 million grant for the ‘Sabah: BE here for you’ campaign in 2020.

“The campaign is still running until today. Eligible applicants can apply for this grant of up to RM100,000 per group, for both national and international events,” he said.

Joniston who is also STB chairman has invited the business event organisers to take advantage of the opportunity.

He said STB will collaborate with the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) to market the venues for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) both locally and globally.

A state-of-the-art facility for small and large scale events, the SICC has a capacity of 5,000 people and is conveniently positioned with a seaside view. It is also strategically located closed to the city centre and airport.

Earlier, Joniston congratulated industry players for completing the Congress Certification Programme 1.0 and the Congress Certification Program 2.0 Advance Masterclass.

These online courses, which are recognised and certified by the Events Industry Council (EIC) of the United States, are fully subsidized by STB.

It was aimed at helping promote the growth and ecosystem of the industry and to support the development of human capital for the state’s business events industry.

“With the necessary knowledge, tools, and requirements needed from event bidding to digital event strategies, these courses greatly assist in sustaining and empowering the industry.

“I would like to acknowledge the trainers from the MACEOS, for constantly working together with STB in ensuring the industry is ready to welcome business event travel.

“Let’s together strengthen our relationship towards improving business events for Sabah,” said Joniston.

Information on the ‘Sabah: BE here for you’ campaign can be found on the Sabah Tourism Board’s Business Events website at www.be.sabahtourism.com.

Present were Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) president Francis Teo; Place Borneo Sdn Bhd director and Congress Certification Programme official trainer Gracie Veronica Geike.

Also in attendance were STB chief executive officer Noredah Othman; chief financial officer Julinus Jeffery Jimit; chief marketing officer Tay Shu Lan; and Sri Pelancongan Sabah general manager Zachary Mobijohn.