SPEECH BY

Y.B. DATO’ SERI MOHAMED NAZRI ABDUL AZIZ

MINISTER OF TOURISM & CULTURE, MALAYSIA

CARBON NEUTRAL ACTIVITIES 2 –

KL CITY ECO CHARITY BICYCLE RIDE

4 JANUARY 2015, SUNDAY

(SALUTATION ? final list to be provided by organiser)

H.E HUANG HUIKANG

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Malaysia

Y.BHG. DATUK TER LEONG YAP

President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor (KLSCCCI)

Y.BHG. DATO' TAN TIAN MENG

Organising Chairman of KL City Eco Charity Bicycle Ride

Council Members of KLSCCCI,

Distinguished Guests,

Members of Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

1. It is my pleasure and privilege to be here this morning for the Carbon Neutral Activities 2 – KL City Eco Charity Bicycle Ride. I am equally happy to note that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor (KLSCCCI) is organising this significant event for the second time in conjunction with DBKL’s Kuala Lumpur Car Free Morning programme, after their 1st bicycle ride activity in Putrajaya in 2013.

2. The primary objective of this event is to promote eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle, as well as to promote inbound tourism events such as cycling activities in Malaysia. As such, this event is our way of supporting the government's efforts to reduce the nation's carbon emission by 40% by the year 2020.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

3. The Car Free Day in KL City gives us an opportunity to appreciate the picturesque sceneries of Kuala Lumpur. It also helps to create public awareness on the need to minimise, if not prevent, pollution from cars.

4. I am pleased to know that this event is also being joined by corporates and individuals, which have pledged their support to make this event a success. I have no doubt that they will find this awareness effort indeed relevant and meaningful.

5. The focus of today's bicycle ride can also be seen in the light of preventing pollution from cars. We are probably all too familiar with the pollution and harm caused by emission from vehicles, in particular diesel vehicles and two-stroke motorcycles. In fact, many cities in the world today face immense air pollution problem due to the lack of effective vehicle emission control programmes.

6. This event is indeed in line with the Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s mantra which is to protect, conserve and preserve Mother Nature, Culture and Heritage. Our natural surroundings and tourist attractions should always be conserved and preserved in making Malaysia one of the top tourist destinations in the world.

7. Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture is also keen to make cycling a key tourism product in all parts of Malaysia. We see tremendous appeal in Malaysia as a cycling destination since our cities and towns, and even kampung, are well-connected and offer scenic routes.

8. Through Tourism Malaysia, we have been organising the CutiCuti 1Malaysia Bike Ride in various parts of the country and also launched many cycling packages for domestic and foreign tourists to enjoy.

9. In fact, we have just launched the “Discover Malaysia by Bicycle Guidebook” last month, which was in conjunction with the 4th Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Bike Ride@Putrajaya programme. Tourism Malaysia has developed 74 cycling tour packages for the guidebook, in collaboration with 32 local tour agencies.

10. I’m pleased to inform that from 2011 to 2014, a total of 202 cycling tour packages have been developed, with the assistance of 95 local tour agencies.

11. From January to August last year, a total of 3,547 cycling packages were sold, which is worth close to RM658,000, while in 2013, a total of 5,290 cycling packages worth about RM845,000 were sold.

12. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture, along with Tourism Malaysia, will continue to do our best to promote these cycling packages to Malaysians and foreign tourists.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

13. Tourism is a catalyst and key pillar in the economic development and transformation of our nation. Promoting Malaysia as a top-of-mind tourist destination is a national mission. The hosting of Visit Malaysia Year in 2014 was timely in order to meet 2020’s target of 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in tourism revenue, as outlined in the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP).

14. This year, we will be celebrating the Malaysia Year of Festivals or MyFest 2015. We have planned a lot of exciting tourism events and activities for tourists and all Malaysians to enjoy.

15. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture is working closely with both public and private sectors to ensure the target to attract 29.4 million tourists and receive a revenue of RM89 billion in 2015 can be fulfilled.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

16. I am particularly happy that KLSCCCI is working very closely with the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Tourism Malaysia to further promote this event. Undeniably, having a strategic network such as this will certainly help to encourage social integration, minimising the carbon footprint by reducing unnecessary driving and understand the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.

17. In conclusion, let me once again congratulate KLSCCCI and the supporting organisations for putting together this event. We all have one common goal. Let us work together towards a clean and green Malaysia and make Malaysia our best home.

Thank you.