Sarawak, under the leadership of Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the Honourable Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts in Sarawak, and with a delegation of 29 industry partners participates in the PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) Convening Leaders 2024 in San Diego, California, from 7-10 January.
This prestigious event marks a pivotal moment for Sarawak in asserting its position in the international business events arena.
The partnership between PCMA and Sarawak, established in 2020, has been a cornerstone in providing ongoing education and business development opportunities. This collaboration is instrumental in increasing awareness of the legacy impact of business events, a key focus for Sarawak.
PCMA Convening Leaders 2024, themed ‘Think Bigger’, provided the perfect platform for Sarawak to showcase its capabilities and explore future collaborations. The event was graced by high-ranking officials, including the Honourable Dato Sri Abdul Karim Hamzah; the Honourable Datuk Sebastian Ting – Sarawak’s Deputy Minister for Tourism; Dato Sri Wan Lizozman bin Wan Omar – Sarawak State Finance Secretary; The Honourable Senator Robert Lau, Board Member of Sarawak Tourism Board; Dato Sherrina Husaini – Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak; Amelia Roziman – CEO of BESarawak, and Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor – CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board.
“PCMA’s mission aligns with our commitment to drive positive economic and social progress through business events. They are one of our most important international partners, and we intend to explore new markets with the 7,000 members of PCMA and create new opportunities for Sarawak,” said Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah. “As we focus on delivering the outcomes of Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030, we need to push our boundaries further and extend the ‘Tribe Legacy Sarawak’ campaign, which emphasises delivering greater values through collaboration, to PCMA’s network for maximum impact.”
This year’s convention treats delegates to over 50 educational sessions and a mainstage conversation with the power duo of global politics, Bill and Hillary Clinton, to discuss how to think big in a challenging world.
“What we hope from PCMA Convening Leaders 2024 is to educate our members on finding opportunities in challenges and empower them to maximise the impact of their events. Sarawak is an excellent example of how to maximise the industry’s impact to drive economic and societal progress,” said Sherrif Karamat, the CEO of PCMA.
“They are a role model for legacy impact and PCMA hopes to expand its collaboration that drives bigger results and makes a positive difference together.”
BESarawak, the state’s agency for business events, has marked education as one of its core strategies for 2024, and joining the Sarawak delegation for a unique learning experience are the Sarawak Tourism Board, Sarawak Museum Department, Business Events Legacy Ambassador – Datu Dr Lulie Melling from Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute, government officers from Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak and business events industry partners.
“PCMA Convening Leaders is a golden opportunity to learn how other regions such as North America drive legacy impacts from business events and deliver exceptional experiences that engage its members,” said Amelia Roziman, the CEO of BESarawak.
“Sarawak is serious about growing its knowledge economy and as a destination with the most qualified business events industry, we hope to apply lessons from PCMA to create a sustained and thriving industry as outlined in the Legacy Impact Master Action Plan 2023-2025 and the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030.”
PCMA is a US-based association with a membership of 7,000 business events strategists and an audience of 100,000 across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. PCMA is well known for providing its members with senior-level education, networking, and market intelligence, and for being the number one platform for business event professionals to build careers and communities.
