Malaysia Business Events Industry Remains Pertinent Through Association Management and New Congress Ambassador Appointment

Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) gathers executives from business events industry associations and Kesatria members at the Association Day in an effort to secure international business events for Malaysia. The captivating event, which is being held at the World Trade Center Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL), expects to receive business executives as well as 45 MyCEB conference ambassadors, including the Kesatria.

MyCEB kickstarted the journey of hosting Association Day in 2022 as a platform to share a cutting-edge space of continued education, advocacy and professionalism in association management. This year, the Bureau has co-organised with the Malaysia Society of Association Executive (MSAE) with a renewed goal to elevate the professionalism of association management.

This year, the Association Day will mark an important milestone with the presence of a keynote speaker from the Chair of the Board of Directors of American Society of Association Executives, Ms. Lakisha Ann to further explain how effective association management operates in the United States.  As the mother of associations with an astounding number of over 22,000 executives, the Association Day welcomes a Keynote Speech by Ms. Lakisha to further enlighten the key areas of strength within associations.

Crafting a full-day programme that will remarkably benefit all association members, the event welcomes a pipeline of informative yet engaging event as participants witness the opportunity to navigate effective association management through curated topics such as Harnessing the ‘Power of Associations Towards Nation Building’ and ‘From Zero to Hero’.

To mark another milestone of celebrating 12 years of Kesatria membership, the premier congress ambassador programme for Malaysia, the ceremony honours an appointment of 5 new Kesatrias in addition to 40 of the members in this programme. Apart from association executives, Kesatrias represent the pioneers to the growth and development of Malaysia’s business events industry scene, equipped with unfaltering capabilities, expertise and knowledge that range from various key economic sectors such as science and medicine, research and innovation, education and law.

YB Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) emphasises, “The core business of MyCEB under MOTAC is to make Malaysia a world leader in the hosting of business, cultural and hallmark sporting events. It is in our interest to ensure that associations in Malaysia showcase our people and our capabilities. It is for this reason that it is important for associations to be well managed, and equipped with the necessary skills, as you become ambassadors for what Malaysia has to offer. Our common goal is to make Malaysia renowned as a key destination for international corporations to conduct business. With Associations being a leading driver of community development, we will be able to organically attract international businesses here.”

Meanwhile, Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Khani Daud, CEO of MyCEB who welcomes the movers and shakers of the industry says, “We hope that by partnering with MSAE for Association Day, the national bureau is able to focus into the core subject matter, which is professional association management. As we are well aware, many associations managed by volunteer leaders ‘by accident’ get into this space, meanwhile, many other associations are taking association management as a profession. Therefore, MyCEB welcomes the members of the Board of Directors from American Society of Association Management (ASAE) in a timely manner to adopt their best practices, this is how association can harness the advancement of the community and society.”

New MyCEB KESATRIA appointees are:

1. Tan Sri Datuk Ter Leong-Yap – Honorary Life President, The Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor
2. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Hari Chandran Thambinayagam – Neurosurgeon, UM Specialist Centre
3. Datuk Ar. Tan Pei Ing – Secretary-General, International Union of Architects (UIA)
4. Datuk Jeffery Sandragesan – Honorary Consul in Basel¸ Embassy of Malaysia, Berne, Switzerland
5. Dr. Jamalul Azizi Abdul Rahaman – Chairman, The Malaysian Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (MABIP)