Kuala Lumpur leaped to 15th place in 2006 with 63 meetings from 30th place in 2005 with 38 meetings according to the International Conventions & Conference Association 2006 country and city rankings. This places Kuala Lumpur as the fourth city in the Asia Pacific region after Singapore (127 meetings), Seoul (85 meetings) and Beijing (65 meetings) and ahead of Hong Kong (57 meetings), Sydney and Bangkok (51 meetings). 2006 also marked the first full year of the operation of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

According to the report, the meetings industry in Malaysia as a whole is growing from strength to strength, with her increasing position in the country rankings from 33rd place with 52 meetings in 2005 to 23rd place with 91 meetings in 2006.

According to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre’s general manager Peter Brokenshire, “These figures are impressive indeed and I am delighted the city has done so well and also to report that 17 of our conventions were international, representing 30% of the total number of meetings held in Kuala Lumpur – no mean feat in our first year of operation!”

On Malaysia’s improved rankings, Mr Brokenshire commented, “the Centre is very encouraged by the growing interest from international organisers for the Malaysian convention product and we are delighted to note some significant congresses confirming for the future”

“As one of the country’s leading convention venues, we look forward to playing our role in promoting Malaysia and the city of Kuala Lumpur as a world-class destination for conferences, exhibitions and meetings.”

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) itself turned in an performance with over 1.5 million people attending 430 events between January and December 2006. These events were made up of:

• 146 banquets and functions attended by 93,697 guests


• 24 conventions attended by 28,625 delegates


• 39 exhibitions attended by 1.2 million visitors


• 206 meetings and events with 68,345 attendees


• 15 entertainment productions, with 35 performances attended by 57,070 concert-goers

Attributing the Centre’s technologically advanced facilities and the staff’s commitment to service excellence as keys to its success to date, Mr Brokenshire said that “2006 has certainly seen the Centre outdo itself in terms of versatility: a purpose-built facility with five-star fittings ready designed with organisers needs in mind in a destination that is proving excellent value for money for this type of business.”

Among the year’s highlights at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre were the major inter-governmental meetings around the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), the Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC), the 13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) plus the XVIII FIGO World Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO Congress) and the 21st World Savings Bank Institute (WSBI) World Congress. Reflecting the growth of congresses in the Asia Pacific area the Asian regional events held at the Centre during the year were 9th ECR Asia Conference, 6th Asian & Oceanian Epilepsy Congress, 12th APLAR World Congress – Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and 11th Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering (APCChE) 2006.

The 28 new international congresses won during the year of 2006 include the International Palm Oil Congress 2007, 16th World Congress of Information Technology 2008, 18th World Congress of Accountants 2010, 13th International Congress of Infectious Diseases and 14th Congress of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies (AFES 2007).