Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre enjoys a decade of successful operation and aims for many more

KUALA LUMPUR - Groundwork on the purpose-built Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre’s (the Centre) expansion at the adjacent Lot 91 is officially underway as the Centre celebrates a decade in business this year.

“We are thrilled to reveal that groundwork began in late April and we expect the expansion to be completed in 2018,” shared General Manager Alan Pryor on the sideline of IMEX Frankfurt 2015 (the Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings & Events).

Lot 91 will be a mixed commercial development comprising of office tower, convention centre and retail podium. The project has a prime location within KLCC Precinct and has been designed for seamless integration with the existing Centre.

When operational the extension will provide an additional 10,000 sqm of flexible and multipurpose space to the Centre’s current 22,659 sqm. This will allow the facility to comfortably accommodate larger international association meetings and concurrent events.

“For many current clients the expansion will enable them to grow their activities and/or events significantly. This development will also play an important part in the future of the Centre and the events that it hosts, as such we are very happy that the announcement of the expansion coincides with our 10th anniversary,” added Pryor.

The Centre’s 10th anniversary arrives on the back of a milestone 2014 with 1,759 events hosted, an 11% increase over the previous record of 1,565 in 2013. Delegate numbers were also up accordingly, to over 1.97 million against 1.96 million in 2013. The Centre has now hosted 10,408 events and welcomed over 18.1 million delegates and visitors (as at 30 April 2015), since opening in June 2005. During that time, the Centre has also contributed more than RM5.7 billion (EUR1.4 billion) in economic impact to Malaysia and provided an invaluable platform for knowledge transfer through the many high-profile events hosted.

“Recognising the significant role team members, suppliers, stakeholders and clients have played in the Centre’s 10 years of success, we have put together a year-long programme of activities to thank them. These include staff appreciation and Corporate Responsibility events, marketing and promotional packages and most recently the launch of our Professional Development Grant, which aims to grow the next generation of local meetings industry leaders into ‘Malaysian Ambassadors’,” concludes Pryor.

Among the high-profile events on the Centre’s 2015 roster are the European-based Global Food Safety Conference 2015 (800 delegates); 18th Human Genome Meeting (HGM) 2015 (400 delegates); International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) Beacon Conference 2015 (350 delegates) and other international heavyweights such as the 26th ASEAN Summit 2015 (1,600 delegates); Global Round World Scholar Cup 2015 (2,000 delegates); International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) 2015 (1,500 delegates); Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) 2015 (1,500 delegates); Congress of the International Society for Hemodialysis (ISHD) 2015 (500 delegates); Congress of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology 2015 (800 delegates); 27th ASEAN Summit 2015 (3,000 delegates) and ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Society (AFES) 2015 (1,500 delegates).

sourced:traveldailynews.asia