OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE BUSINESS EVENTS PENANG 2018 ANNUAL REVIEW
SPEECH BY YAB CHOW KON YEOW
CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE
BUSINESS EVENTS PENANG 2018 ANNUAL REVIEW
ORGANISED BY
PENANG CONVENTION & EXHIBITION BUREAU (PCEB)
12:30 pm | Wednesday 20th March 2019
Macalister Ballroom, Eastern & Oriental Hotel
Good afternoon and congratulations to you on hitting and surpassing the RM1 billion mark for the second year! I am proud to note that Business Events Penang experienced 62% growth in 3 years since your inception and the first industry report for Business Events was released.
This is a tremendous feat, more so for a key segment of Penang’s tourism industry. In 2016, PCEB reported that Penang had hosted 1,251 events with an estimated economic impact of RM 808 million. 2017 the number of events shot up to 2,511 with the estimated economic impact breaking the RM 1 billion mark for the first time. The upward trend continued in 2018 with the estimated economic impact hitting RM 1.312 billion from 2,733 events.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The service sector contributes 49% of Penang’s GDP and 59% in terms of creating job opportunities. The key component of the service sector in Penang is tourism, which has been experiencing steady growth over the past few years. This is reflected in the tremendous advancement experienced by the Business Events sector in Penang, and the Penang State Government recognises the importance of business tourism.
The growth Penang has experienced in recent years both in leisure and business tourism has resulted in an influx of investment from the private sector, optimizing the state’s offerings of leisure travel and Business Events products and services.
For the past 3 years, we have enjoyed and celebrated the opening of world-class facilities such as The Habitat Penang Hill, Entopia by Butterfly Farm, The Top Penang, Tech Dome and the Setia SPICE Convention Centre, which is the world’s first and only hybrid solar-powered convention centre.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The crucial demand for a dedicated exhibition centre in Penang has seen the materialisation of another significant private sector investment via the construction of the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre (PWCC). Located within The Light City, which is a large-scale integrated mixed-use waterfront development just off the picturesque Penang Bridge, PWCC is slated for opening in early 2021.
As we have seen, we are undergoing a period of significant maturing for Business Events Penang. When PCEB released the first industry report in 2016, the Business Events sector displayed tremendous potential and room to grow as the key player and substantial contributor to the economy.
Under the stewardship of PCEB, this remarkable progress shows that the Business Events sector is on a fast track, with the positive synergy of supportive partners in scaling their business for Penang.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Ensuring the sustainability and continuous growth of the Business Events sector falls in line with the vision of Penang2030. Two of the key tenets of Penang2030 is creating a variety of high-quality tourism products across Penang Island and Seberang Perai as well as to foster an ecosystem that nurtures creative industries and niche business services.
I am confident that the Business Events sector will have an empowering force to facilitate these two targets for the state. With this, I would like to thank PCEB and the industry partners for their trust and confidence in the Penang State Government with their continuous venturing and growing the Business Events sector for Penang. I would also like to congratulate each member of the industry for this remarkable accomplishment and I wish you all the best in reaching greater heights in 2019.
Thank you.