Kuala Lumpur. The economic contribution to the Kuala Lumpur city generated by events held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) since its opening in June 2005 through to October 2008 hit an estimated RM 1.7 billion (USD 0.5 billion). According to the Centre’s General Manager, Peter Brokenshire, it is imperative that Malaysia maintains its competitiveness in the business tourism arena, especially in light of the current economic slowdown, as tourism is the country’s second largest foreign exchange earner, after manufacturing. This is also in line with the government’s objective of accelerating the domestic private sector and stimulating the services sector to spearhead economic growth.  To date, the three-year old Centre has been the venue of choice for over 1,700 events which in turn, have welcomed 6.1 million delegates who contributed 6.5 million delegate days. www.klccconventioncentre.com