Kuala Lumpur, 15 May 2015 - Malaysia has jumped five places from 2013 in world convention country rankings and two places in Asia Pacific ranking based on the number of international association meetings held in 2014 as per the recently released ICCA report.

                              World Ranking                                  Asia–Pacific Ranking
                                2013 / 2014                                          2013 / 2014
                      ___________________________________________________________________________
MALAYSIA                   35      30                                              9           7

Major cities in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR            33      28                                              10         8
KUCHING                     136   101                                             28        20
KOTA KINABALU           371   354                                             80        79
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International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Rankings Country World Ranking Asia Pacific Ranking

“Malaysia’s promising increase in number of meetings is a result of the growing strength, collaboration and commitment between the government ministries, MyCEB and our industry partners to bid for, secure and deliver successful international meetings for the country. We are also very proud to announce that other than Kuala Lumpur, other Malaysian cities like Kuching and Kota Kinabalu have also improved their ranking in 2014 reflecting a growth in Malaysia’s association meetings business amidst a competitive and challenging market”, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Zulkefli Haji Sharif, said today.

Malaysia played host to a number of distinguished business events in 2014 and, some of them being “a first” for Malaysia and Asia. The roll call of prestigious conferences held such as the 2014 Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), Offshore Technology Conference Asia 2014 (OTC), XXV FIG Congress 2014 and Toastmasters 2014 International Convention, 61st UICH Les Clefs d’Or International Concierge Congress just to name a few. These international business events are an endorsement of Malaysia as a top-of-mind destination for meetings and events.

More Growth and Bid Wins in 2014

From January to December 2014, MyCEB together with industry partners have secured 152 conventions and corporate incentive bid wins, which will bring in 100,754 delegates to Malaysia between 2014 and 2020, an increase of 25% in delegate numbers compared to same period in 2013. The bid wins will create an estimated economic impact of RM970 million (USD262 million or Euro242 million).

“Such achievements would not be possible without the support of the local Malaysian industry players, such as the “Kesatria (MyCEB’s ambassador programme), PCOs and all industry leaders alike who have worked so hard in winning and staging the international or regional meetings in Malaysia. As we all know, it is not easy to stand up to bid for an international meeting, let alone to organise them and making sure it went well and the bottom line is met. Their efforts must be recognised and this would be the most suitable occasion,” added Zulkefli.

MyCEB will be leading a delegation of 11 Malaysian industry partners comprising convention venues, hotels and destination management companies to participate in the IMEX Frankfurt on 19 to 21 May 2015 under the Malaysian Pavilion at booth number B200.

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For more information, please contact:

EVELYN LIM
General Manager – Marketing Communications
Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau
Tel: +603 2034 2090 Ext 1108 • Fax: +603 2034 2091 •Email: evelyn@myceb.com.my

NOTE TO EDITORS

About Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB)

MyCEB was established in 2009 by Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia to further strengthen Malaysia’s business tourism brand and position for the international business events market. A non-profit organisation, MyCEB serves as a central hub to assist meeting and event planners to bid for and stage international business events in Malaysia and act as a conduit for national product development. MyCEB’s goal is to improve its rankings as an international meetings destination within International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and to grow business tourism arrivals to Malaysia.

In November 2011, MyCEB unveiled its business events tagline, ‘Malaysia – Asia’s Business Events Hub’ which encompasses its aim to communicate Malaysia’s proposition as a gateway to Asia for meetings – where many of Asia’s diverse cultures, languages and lifestyles are represented and have merged through a long history of trade and meetings. Last year, MyCEB (Business Events Division) supported 130 associations, 112 corporate incentive groups and 19 exhibitions. Together, these accounted for 131,936 delegates with an estimated economic impact of RM1.5 billion to the country.

Malaysia Major Events, previously known as International Events Unit (IEU) is another division of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB). It focuses on identifying and supporting major event bids for sports, arts, lifestyle and entertainment events. It also assists home grown and home hosted events as well as other cluster events that strengthen Malaysia’s global appeal as an international avenue for major events. For more information, please visit www.myceb.com.my and follow us on www.facebook.com/MyCEB and Twitter (@MyCEB).

About International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)

Founded in 1963, the ICCA is one of the world’s most prominent organizations in the world of international meetings. Based in Amsterdam, ICCA has over 900 members in around 85 countries. The ICCA rankings cover meetings organised by international associations which has a minimum of 50 attendees, take place on a regular basis and rotate between a minimum of three countries.
http://www.iccaworld.com/abouticca.cfm.
May 2015

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