Business Events Sarawak’s (BESarawak) plan to expand Sarawak’s cities – aside from its capital Kuching – as meeting and conference destinations continues with the latest launch of the Business Events Consortium of Miri (BECoM).
BECoM – armed with its tagline Miri Open for Business Events – aims to catapult Miri as a business events destination.
The consortium is made up of 22 members comprising Miri City Council and industry partners such as hoteliers, destination management companies and event management companies. Members will work together to drive business events into the city and provide the necessary products and services related to bidding and winning business events.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak, Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, said: “Miri is typically associated with tourism activities but now we are welcoming the business events sector to choose Miri and invest in our destination to inspire and be inspired.”
The Malaysian city already has in place infrastructure for conferences of up to 17,000 delegates, as well as attractions for post tours such as the well-known diving attraction, the Miri Sibuti Coral Reef National Park. It is also a short flight from the UNESCO World Heritage Mulu National Park.
COO of of BESarawak, Amelia Roziman, added: “This move by BESarawak will enable the industry partners and players in Miri to further develop opportunities in terms of hosting conferences. Our initiatives are driven by Sarawak’s tribal values of community, identity and unity therefore we are confident that Miri has the potential to expand its sectors and BECoM will be the vehicle that drives Miri to be the pioneer of conferences that have yet to be brought to our shores.”
Miri established itself as a leading port within the region for oil and timber industries, sparked by the discovery of oil in Borneo in the early 1900s. Today, there are a few industrial areas such as Kuala Baram Industrial Estate (Mixed, Light, and Medium Industries), Piasau Industrial Estate (Mixed Light Industries) and Bekenu Light Industrial Area (food processing).
Aside from being an industrially strong city, Miri has excelled in the sector of agriculture to become the state’s focus city in using high-technology farming via the fertigation system starting next year, with a model that is currently supporting the city’s agropreneurs.
Miri has been the venue for major conferences such as the International Multi-conference in Computer Science and Engineering, 2nd Borneo diabetes conference 2019, 7th International Conference on Smart Computing & Communications 2019, International Conference on Materials Technology & Energy 2019 and the 8th International Conference on Bio-Processing 2019.
BECoM is the second consortium formed by BESarawak, the first being the Sibu Business Events Consortium that was formed in July. Next year, BESarawak will launch the Bintulu Business Events Consortium.
