In August 2026, 26 participants in the Malaysian city of Sibu graduated from the Business Events Accelerator Programme (BEAP). Together with 29 graduates from Miri in July, the programme has now equipped 55 industry professionals across two cities in the state of Sarawak. BEAP was co-developed by Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), the local Business Events Committees in Miri and Sibu, and the Sarawak Chapter of the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS).
Practical Skills Across the Full Event Lifecycle
The programme provided hands-on knowledge covering the entire event lifecycle – from developing commercially viable concepts and financial planning to operations and post-event evaluation. A key focus was the practical application of artificial intelligence to improve productivity, creativity and decision-making in business events planning and delivery.
Jason Tan Chin Foo, CEO of BESarawak, emphasised the need for continuous professional development: “It’s no longer enough to know how to organise and deliver an event. Industry professionals need to understand the business behind it, from developing commercially viable concepts and managing resources to adopting new technologies and responding to evolving organiser and delegate expectations.”
Building Local Expertise to Match Growing Demand
Sibu is one of the preferred convention destinations in Sarawak. The programme aims to strengthen local expertise so that professionals on the ground can take on a greater share of the value generated by business events. Tan noted that the next step is to develop local services and solutions around the existing demand, enabling Sibu’s industry to capture more of the opportunities business events create.
Raising National Standards
The programme also supports MACEOS’ national efforts to raise professional standards across Malaysia’s business events destinations. Lim Win Nee, Vice President of MACEOS Education, said: “Malaysia’s competitiveness as a business events destination is strengthened when industry capabilities grow across all our destinations. Every market has a role to play, and in destinations such as Sibu, a strong and capable local industry can make a meaningful difference to the quality of events, the opportunities for local businesses and the overall destination experience.”
The first two-city rollout marks another step in BESarawak’s broader strategy to develop the people and businesses behind the business events industry, contributing to Sarawak’s economic growth.