MALAYSIA - Malaysia’s business tourism sector is to benefit from US$16m in funding from the Government.
The money, part of the 10th Malaysia Plan, will be channelled toward enhancing Malaysia’s competitiveness in the MICE arena.
Minister of Tourism Malaysia, YB Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen says: “We have identified the need to establish Malaysia as a leading business tourism destination globally, and I am pleased to note that this has been recognised.”
Under the Economic Transformation Programme’s NKEA project, Malaysia plans to grow business tourism arrivals from five per cent to eight per cent of the overall tourist arrival figure, which translates to an increase from 1.2m to 2.9m by 2020.
In addition, the business tourism industry is expected to contribute US$1.2bn in incremental Gross National Income (GNI) and 16,700 additional jobs to the nation by 2020.
“We remain focused and hope to propel Malaysia to one of the top five in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) country rankings in the Asia Pacific in the next 10 years,” says Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
In 2009, Malaysia welcomed 1.2m international business tourism visitors, generating an estimated USD3.2bn in visitor spending to the local economy.
