KUCHING: The second Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK 2) project, set to be completed before 2028, is expected to elevate Sarawak’s capacity to host large-scale business events.

Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah highlighted the limitations of current venues in Sarawak which can only accommodate up to 5,000 delegates. 

According to him, this restriction has hindered the state's ability to attract bigger events.

“If a conference exceeds 5,000 delegates, we have to turn it down because we lack the necessary facilities and venue.

“So now, if we have all those things in place, they can level up. They can start looking around and bring back conferences that can cater to up to 10,000 delegates,” he said. 

He said this in a press conference in conjunction with the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) Exchange between Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) at Baitulmakmur II on Friday. 

Dato Sri Abdul Karim added that in the last Sarawak Cabinet meeting, it was decided that convention centres will be reporting directly to the Sarawak Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) to enhance coordination and development of the tourism and creative industries sector.

Meanwhile, in a significant development for Sarawak's business events industry, BESarawak has collaborated with UNIMAS to launch Malaysia's first-ever economic and legacy impact studies. 

This collaboration will focus on two major projects which are the Economic Impact Study, as well as the Legacy Impact Study and Legacy Impact Measurement System. -UKASnews