Malaysia’s newest venue for exhibitions and conferences, Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), which opened in August this year, has revealed a 1H2018 event calendar that is packed with large-scale trade fairs.
Gunther Beissel, MITEC CEO, said the “high-profile events” include MITA Travel Fair 2018 in January which will attract an estimated 10,000 attendees; Malaysia International Furniture Fair in March with some 15,000 attendees; Malaysia International Halal Fair and Defense Service Asia, both in April, with some 20,000 attendees each.
MITEC, which boasts more than 45,000m2 of gross exhibition space, is also said to be the country’s largest exhibition centre. When combined, the exhibition halls can accommodate up to 47,700 visitors in a theatre setting or 28,300 banquet guests.
Spanning over three massive double volume floors, MITEC offers 5.3 hectares of flexible function space including 11 exhibition halls (nine mega halls and two medium-sized halls), one multipurpose hall, 10 meeting rooms, VIP suites and lounge and media and press facilities.
The venue is a public-private partnership project with the Malaysian government, managed and operated by Prisma Galeri, an entity under Naza Corporation Holdings and owned by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation.
While 1H2018 will be a busy period of MITEC, Beissel has forecasted a challenging new year due to the “volatile global economic climate”.
“(Business) events have become a lot leaner and very much budget and ROI focused, and we need to be even more creative by providing innovative products and services,” he said.
“Fortunately for MITEC, Malaysia’s unique selling propositions such as value-for-money, direct air access from most major cities around the world, a safe and stable political climate, and established industry supply chain among others help boost our attractiveness for the regional and international marketplace,” he added.
Still, “strong growth” is expected in the coming years, largely from “high population markets in Asia due to their expanding middle classes”.
As well, Beissel anticipates a growing importance placed on sustainable and eco-friendly practices, special dietary requirements and healthy F&B options, and flexible function spaces.
