July 2023

Installation of the system is expected to be completed end of July and are, conducted in phases with 10 accessible toilets in the convention centre, already equipped with the system,

The system can detect a toilet user’s posture (active or static; seated or lying down) and collect motion value for AI-enabled analysis to identify if a fall or accident has taken place or the toilet user has become motionless.

In the event of an identified accident, the system will send out an alert within five seconds via hand-held devices such as mobile phones or tablets. Staff will be able to locate the toilet and get there as soon as possible.

At the same time, the security control room will also receive the alert to allow for rapid additional manpower deployment.  The system will facilitate provision of assistance to visitors in need within the critical life-saving golden timeframe. The AI Life Sense Alert System has already been introduced in public hospitals in Hong Kong.

“Investing in and applying technology to upgrade HKCEC’s hardware and software has been a continuous focus of HML. With safety of our visitors being our first and foremost priority, we have taken the precautionary move to introduce the AI Life Sense Alert System so that our staff can provide timely assistance to visitors in distress during an emergency. The key is to reach the visitors in need as soon as possible so as not to miss the golden hour between life and death,” said  Ms Monica Lee-Müller, managing director of HML.

The AI Life Sense Alert System also provides humidity, temperature and air quality readings, facilitating monitoring of the environment in the accessible toilets and adjustment of cleaning frequency to enhance visitor experience and efficiency.

HML has been pioneering the application of artificial intelligence and robotics to continuously enhance its operations and service. In addition to offering 5G service with 100 percent coverage of the entire HKCEC, HML has introduced 5G smart security robots and smart cleaning robots also a green measure in light of its water conservation feature.

Sarawak’s business events performance in the fiscal year of 2022 was nothing short of remarkable as the destination’s industry led by Business Events Sarawak surpassed targets on both economic and legacy impact returns. This was announced at BESarawak’s 17th Annual General Meeting on June 28.

In FY2022, the State Convention Fund was revised to the Sarawak Business Events Fund to accommodate all types of business events, enabling Sarawak to secure 100 business events with a projected total economic impact of RM325.3 million, including a direct delegate expenditure of RM177.3 million and tax revenue of RM19.6 million.

Ensuring that the local community benefit from these events, an additional 25,896 jobs are expected. The secured events target exceeded 111 percent while other economic returns exceeded 196 percent.

Face-to-face meetings are back in full swing, and Sarawak hosted 100 business events in the same year fetching RM230.3 million in total economic impact. Direct delegate expenditures injected another RM125.1 million into the economy while 18,275 short- and long-term jobs were created within the last 12 months.

Sarawak also achieved remarkable success in international bidding, securing 100 percent victory in all bids with a projected total economic impact of RM179.4 million and over 14,000 job opportunities on the horizon — making FY2022 the most successful bidding year in the last two years.

FY2022 marked the business events industry’s third year in executing the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030. One of the industry’s objectives is to align the PCDS 2030 on securing sustainable, legacy-driven business events from the six priority economic sectors namely manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, forestry, mining and services; and seven enabler sectors such as digital transformation, innovation, education and human capital, basic infrastructure, utilities, transport and renewable energy.

“We stayed on track in securing events of key interests aligned with the Sarawak Government’s objectives of stimulating economic and social growth, while growing our core business, optimising costs and opportunities and strengthening Sarawak’s stakeholder collaborations and talent pool to boost industry competence,” stated BESarawak’s chairman, Dato Sri Abang Haji Abdul Karim bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg.

“Through business events, Sarawak is laying the foundation for sustainable development with the intention of leaving a transformative impact on local communities for years to come,” continued BESarawak’s chaiman.

Sarawak is becoming widely recognised worldwide as a legacy impact destination. In FY2022 Sarawak’s legacy performance recorded an 82 percent success rate with 91 out of 100 secured events. A total of 485 impacts were identified with the highest on the services, tourism, agriculture, education and human capital, innovation as well as, digital transformation sectors.

In terms of hosted events, all 100 business events were marked as legacy driven, achieving a 100 percent success rate and a total of 553 impacts were recorded.

Between 2006 and 2022, Sarawak hosted 1,082 business events with a total economic impact of RM3.23 billion providing more than 258,000 job opportunities to the local communities.

This year, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau has set its target for the UK and European market at 91,200 visitors. This is more than three times the 27,080 recorded in 2022; and makes up 12 per cent of the total number of overseas MICE visitors, 760,000 are targeted for the year.

Thailand’s top five European markets in 2022 were; Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Italy.

At the recent IMEX 2023 in Frankfurt, Thailand netted 120 leads that may yield 61,141 overseas MICE visitors, of these 109 were for meeting and incentive groups, and 11 for convention groups.

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau revealed that over the three-day show, Thai suppliers recorded 866 appointments with prospective overseas buyers, while TCEB had 94, bringing the total number of appointments to 960.

The leads are from over 10 countries including; Germany, UK, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, USA, Mexico, and India.

At IMEX 2023, TCEB highlighted two upcoming events, these are the ICCA Annual Congress to be held from November 12 to 15 this year at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, and the Annual Meetings of International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank Group scheduled for 2026 in Bangkok.

These are high-profile global business events that will boost Thailand’s credential as one of the world’s leading MICE destinations.