Opposite page from left: HR director
of the Kuala Lumpur Convention
Centre Rohizat Baharum explaining
about the Professional Development
Programme; the Centre's Certified
Trainers and Members of Training
Council; Signing Ceremony of
the MoU between Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre and the
University of Malaya; Angeline van
den Broecke, the Centre’s director
of sales & marketing.
Malaysia’s business events proposition to
attract international events to the country,
and grow Malaysia’s business events
footprint globally.
We also played a pivotal role in the Malaysian
Government’s National Key Economic Areas
Lab process representing the business
events industry and this culminated in the
establishment of the Malaysia Convention &
Exhibition Bureau in 2009.
In addition, our Accredited Suppliers
Programme has been at the forefront of
local supply chain enhancement, which
has helped develop Malaysia’s business
event proposition and prompted industry
players to raise their quality of service
delivery. Implemented in 2008, the
Accredited Suppliers Programme, part of
our responsibility to protect the health and
safety of clients, visitors, staff, contractors
and suppliers and to minimise its impact on
the environment, ensures that all approved
suppliers/contractors are ISO-accredited
and equipped with a full working
knowledge of the facility.
The spill-over effect, has been for local
companies to continually enhance and
improve their respective products and
services, thus lifting professionalism and
quality standards and in turn, making
the local industry and Malaysia, more
competitive in the international marketplace.
Tell us about the partnership with IAPCO?
In 2016, we focused our efforts on
strengthening collaboration with local and
international industry players to drive the
business events agenda for Kuala Lumpur
and Malaysia. In line with this, we formed
a strong partnership with the International
Association of Professional Congress
Organisers (IAPCO). business events industry moving forward.
Our partnership with IAPCO aims to create
greater awareness of Malaysia’s multi-
cultural diversity and compelling business
events proposition amongst their 114
members across 40 countries. As part of
this partnership, we will be hosting the
IAPCO Council Meeting in September 2017. We have numerous policies and guidelines
which were identified pre-opening and
have been implemented since day one. We
became the first organisation in Malaysia’s
hospitality industry to address the flexible
staff shortage faced by the sector by
creating a professional development
initiative – the Ambassador Programme.
What are the wider benefits of hosting the
IAPCO Council Meeting in September?
The IAPCO Council Meeting brings the
world’s top professional conference
organisers to Malaysia and provides the
perfect opportunity for us to showcase our
facility as well as highlight Kuala Lumpur’s
premier business events proposition.
In addition, following the IAPCO Council
Meeting, IAPCO in conjunction with AOS
Conventions & Events and the Malaysian
Association of Convention and Exhibition
Organisers and Suppliers, will host the
IAPCO Edge Kuala Lumpur. The programme
is focused on a well-rounded look at
conference management and the changing
landscape of the industry. In order to
maximise learning outcomes and networking
opportunities, this seminar is strictly limited
in size and allows for maximum interaction
with faculty and industry experts.
This seminar will provide a unique
learning experience for local industry
players and will allow them to engage
directly with some of the world’s leading
professional conference organisers. This
sharing of knowledge and experience
will undoubtedly help develop Malaysia’s
What internal programs does the Centre
run to raise the service standard?
The Ambassador Programme, which aims
to nurture and grow a pool of talent to
ensure there is consistent staffing with
the right skills set to meet client and
event requirements at the venue. These
‘Ambassadors’ when not on duty at the
Centre can freelance with other hospitality
organisations which helps address the
flexible staff shortage faced by the
Malaysian hospitality industry. To date,
more than 8943 ‘Ambassadors’ have been
trained under the programme.
Our Ambassador Programme has also
resulted in a paradigm shift on how
the industry operates and manages its
flexible staff. The model has gained
industry acceptance and is being adopted
through various government initiatives
and programmes, and used as a basis for
curriculum in educational institutions.
In addition, we have various on-going
training programmes and initiatives to
increase service standards and our Training
Department will continue to play a leading
role in ensuring that employees are
competent and capable of executing their
duties in an efficient and positive manner.
www.cimmagazine.com Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 2, 2017 11