Officiating at the certificate presentation ceremony was Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director-General Planning, Encik Amiruddin Abu, in the presence of the Centre’s key clients, and successful and potential participants of the programme.

According to Mr Peter Brokenshire, General Manager, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the driving force behind the Centre’s Preferred Supplier Programme is “our obligation to protect the health and safety of guests, visitors, employees, clients, suppliers and contractors and to minimize our impact on the environment.

“The Preferred Supplier Programme therefore ensures that all approved suppliers/contractors are equipped with a full working knowledge of the Centre. Once certified, they have the benefit of either working hand-in-hand with the Centre or, directly with a Client, on any event held at the Centre.

“In addition,” continued Mr Brokenshire, “we believe such a scheme will have a positive spill-over effect and encourage local companies in the industry to continually enhance and improve their respective products and services, thus lifting quality standards and in turn, making the industry and Malaysia, more competitive in the international marketplace.”

Opened to all Malaysian companies providing complementary services such as AV, sound, lighting, booth construction, freight forwarding, interpretation systems, etc. each participant is assessed thoroughly in accordance with the Centre’s requirements, and if successful, gain approved status in one of six preferred supplier categories.

The first batch of recipients included companies active in freight forwarding, event management and audio-visual products and services as well as exhibition organisers and contractors.