M’sia eyes subvention

(BANGKOK) The Malaysia government is set to greenlight a MICE budget on October 15 that will for the first time arm the country with a subvention fund to bid for conventions and guarantee funding for the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) over the next 10 years. TTG Asia understands a budget of RM25 million (US$8 million), leading to RM55 million by 2020, has been tabled as part of Malaysia’s 10-year action plan, unveiled on September 21, to double tourism receipts to US$33.5 billion.  Brokenshire: “Hopeful.” Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) general manager, Datuk Peter Brokenshire, said he was “hopeful” the budget would go through, saying Malaysia had lost “several” bids because it was not able to offer subvention. He said he was all for subvention but warned of the need to “be careful it does not go out of hand”.  Said Brokenshire: “We’ve seen the level of subvention given creating false expectations for a number of organisers. If a professional event of 2,000 pax is guaranteed, say, US$1 million, it could create artificially-low conference fees and not actually attract incremental number of delegates. The selection of a destination for a conference should be based on what benefits the issues discussed would have to the country/city hosting it, and what benefits its delegates could gain from being in the destination, rather than the amount of money put on the table. If a country misses out on a conference that is vital for it, say, AIDS research, because it cannot afford a subvention, that is a sad thing for the industry.” A “template” detailing guidelines, such as level of funding to be given, has been drawn up following inputs from KLCC, MyCEB consultant Gary Grimmer and other MICE players, according to Brokenshire. Part of the deal is for organisers to show cause how their congress would benefit the country, apart from its economic benefit. ICCA member and AOS Conventions & Events owner Anthony Wong said subvention had become a “necessary evil”. “Competition is tough in our region, where countries such as South Korea support the business with an aggressive subvention policy. Governments justify it by the direct impact on the economy but also by viewing it as knowledge building and education transfer for the economy when international associations meet in their country.” Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau director Oliver Chong agrees. “If you do not have a subvention, you lose out” as “there are organisers who shop around and play one destination against another”.  Singapore is continuing its subvention scheme, which is part of the BE in Singapore stimulus launched several years ago, even as the global economy improves and the Singapore tourism industry is booming as a result of new attractions. “We need to look at making our schemes more flexible and geared towards individual events rather than a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Chong. -TTG Asia.