Sarawak launches Malaysia and Borneo’s first Legacy Masterplan

From left: GainingEdge’s Gary Grimmer; BESarawak’s Amelia Roziman; ICCA’s Senthil Gopinath; Minister of tourism, creative industry and performing arts of Sarawak Snowdan Lawan; Consul General of Malaysia’s Farzamie Sarkawie; and Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers' Francis Teo

Business Events Sarawak formally launched the Legacy Impact Master Action Plan (Legacy MAP) 2023-2025 at IMEX Frankfurt last week.

The Legacy MAP is a course of action for the next three years developed by Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) alongside the Sarawak Government and consultancy group, GainingEdge, to define and drive decisions about hosting business events in Sarawak. It aims to leverage the relationship between business events and legacy impact, and optimise this to contribute to Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 goals.

From left: GainingEdge’s Gary Grimmer; BESarawak’s Amelia Roziman; ICCA’s Senthil Gopinath; Minister of tourism, creative industry and performing arts of Sarawak Snowdan Lawan; Consul General of Malaysia’s Farzamie Sarkawie; and Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers’ Francis Teo

With the business events industry one of the six key priority sectors under tourism in Sarawak’s PCDS 2030, the Legacy MAP is designed to support the key outcomes sought by the strategy which are economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability, while helping business event planners create greater value when designing event programmes.

To achieve the greatest impact, Sarawak will actively seek events that align with PCDS 2030 and prioritise those under the strategy’s six economic sectors (manufacturing, mining, agriculture, forestry, tourism and services) and seven enabling sectors (digital, innovation, education, infrastructure, utilities, transport and renewable energy).

Sarawak’s deputy minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Snowdan Lawan, said: “The Legacy MAP is closely aligned with the government’s development policies. Therefore, we are positioning business events as a frontline sector to facilitate strategic collaborations and open a host of economic and social opportunities. Legacy impact is Sarawak’s unique value proposition to the world and we believe that this transformative thinking will allow the industry to enjoy greater returns on both objectives and investments.”

The Legacy MAP changes the traditional narrative about business events only contributing to Sarawak’s economy via delegate numbers and expenses. Instead, it cements the new narrative that business events – with the vast knowledge, connections and innovations it carries – can contribute to the five core legacy pillars of sectoral growth, community development, environmental sustainability and good governance on top of economic impact.

A national survey conducted by BESarawak last year indicated that 93 per cent of respondents from Malaysia’s business events industry viewed legacy as a positive move to add greater value to business events.

Amelia Roziman, CEO, BESarawak, said: “We have expanded our economic-based business model to include legacy because it is more sustainable as years go by. Every stakeholder group in the business events ecosystem has unique areas of interests and influence and the Legacy MAP is going to speak directly to their needs and how they can impact Sarawak’s legacy goals as well as their event goals. We aim to create value for both sides of the table – business event planners and Sarawak’s local communities.”

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