Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MoTAC) is honoured to host some of the most important captains of the insurance industry from 24th – 26th April 2019. An industry that advocates financial security and stability for people as well as a great economic contributor in every country it is in. The 2nd International Chinese Million Forum (ICMF) is held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, congregating around 2,000 delegates.

“China is an important partner to Malaysia in many aspects. China is the largest source of tourists to Malaysia outside ASEAN. We are happy to share that last year, around 2.9 million visitors from China stepped onto the Malaysian shores with a total expenditure of RM 12.3 billion in tourism receipts,” said YB Datuk Mohamaddin bin Ketapi, Minister of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MoTAC).

“This year, we are looking forward towards achieving 5% increase in tourist arrivals from China, which we are confident as Malaysia is belting out many new products and services including 7 new hotels and are expecting another 10 new hotels up to 2020 to cater the demands as we are gearing up for the Visit Malaysia 2020,” added YB Datuk Mohamaddin.

“It is an honour for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia to welcome a prestigious event such as the 2nd International Chinese Million Forum (ICMF) and I would like to thank the Chinese Million Forum Southeast Asia (CMF-SEA) for choosing Malaysia to host the 2nd ICMF as their first event out of China. It is your confidence and believe in giving us the opportunity to host this prestigious event that will contribute an economic impact of close to RM 40 million to the country,” said Datuk Zulkefli Hj. Sharif, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

Insurance indeed plays a pivotal role in benefitting the society. During these high-powered three days, the delegates will see rapid idea exchange and knowledge transfer among insurance professionals. More importantly, ICMF acts as a solid avenue for the Chinese life insurance industry to connect with counterparts around the world, promoting best practices and solutions of global standards. This Forum will also enable the local players to tap into international expertise and learn from one another the tricks of the trade that will ultimately be beneficial to insurance policy holders and unpenetrated markets.

“I am thrilled to know that delegates will not only get to discover a world class capital city of Kuala Lumpur with great efforts placed into preserving the natural surroundings, but also the warm hospitality, exotic food, rich heritage and culture. While you are here, be sure to soak up as much of the Malaysian way of life,” added Datuk Zulkefli.

The economic giant has been a major market for Malaysia to continuously tap on. Last year, MyCEB received 30,859 total number of Chinese delegates which sees a visitor expenditure of RM 209 million (USD 51 million), leading to an economic impact of RM 491 million (USD 120 million).

“Our goal to work with the Chinese market in 2019 is to hit a five-percent growth, which we are confident as Malaysia is belting out many new products and services. For many years now, Malaysia has welcomed and hosted an impressive number of groups from China and the initiative in having the ICMF in Malaysia is in line with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia&'s target to welcome 30 million tourists and 100 billion in receipts in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia 2020,” Datuk Zulkefli continued.

The ICMF is an initiative of the China Million Forum to create a global event after 15 years of holding General Assembly in mainland China. Malaysia was chosen as the host country for the 2 nd ICMF due to the strong support from all Malaysia stakeholders, the destination and meeting facilities met and fulfilled the requirements of ICMF, the emerging bilateral foreign relationship between Malaysia and China; and the positive influence from the members of CMF-SEA to nominate Kuala Lumpur as the host destination.

Chinese Million Forum Southeast Asia (CMF-SEA) is a newly formed organisation comprising of representatives from insurance corporations within the Southeast Asia region. The organisation is led by Mr Pam Sam Yee, who is a Singapore citizen, and a member of International Chinese Million Forum (ICMF) Council. The ICMF-SEA is wholly funded by ICMF and the event will be managed by their representative from Malaysia. The representatives from CMF-SEA made courtesy visits to several multinational insurance companies to source for partnership opportunities in Mainland China in 2018. They have a comprehensive marketing and promotional plan in hand to achieve the targeted number of participants. The local representatives will acts as the secretariat of CMF-SEA to manage the event preparation, from the sourcing of venues and suppliers, recruitment of local sponsorship, to the actual execution of the event in Malaysia itself.