BESarawak and Curtin Malaysia launch International Journal of Business Events and Legacies

Miri – 17 March 2022 – Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) and Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) yesterday to jointly host and manage the International Journal of Business Events and Legacies (IJBEL).

The IJBEL is a new international journal established by BESarawak and Curtin Malaysia as a tool for industry students, academics, researchers, practitioners and policymakers to understand the relationship between hosting business events and correlating activities such as management, economics and entrepreneurship among many other disciplines.

BESarawak and Curtin Malaysia also signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak and the Sarawak Research Society as strategic partners to expand the journal’s reach and visibility across multiple academic, research and professional networks.

The hybrid signing ceremony held at the Curtin Malaysia campus was officiated by Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who said the journal is “a significant piece of work to preserve our knowledge in permanent records of research.”

“We are proud to announce that this will be the first journal in South East Asia to focus on business events, and the first in the world to merge business events and legacy topics under one title,” Datuk Seri Abdul Karim told those present.

He also commented that the journal will make Sarawak competitive and known globally; especially as it is backed by well-respected global organisations such as the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), The Iceberg, and GainingEdge.

In addition, it has the support of local and national travel and tourism associations such as the Association of Sarawak Inbound Agencies (ASIA), Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS), Malaysian Association of Travel and Tour Agencies (MATTA), Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF), Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM) and Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

The minister said Sarawak has been on the radar of the global business events community since it began advocating legacy impacts in 2016. Sarawak’s prestige grew more so in the last couple of years when destinations were looking for inspiration on how to rebuild their economies and society through business events. He said white papers have concluded that business events are fundamental to stimulating growth and pandemic recovery.

“Legacy is the way forward. The future of business events is legacy-driven and it has to be technologically connected and more sustainable towards the environment. We are one of the handful of second-tier destinations in Asia Pacific to lead the legacy impact movement and our position is rather unique,” he said.

Also present were Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Hii Chang Kee; Chief Executive Officer of BESarawak Amelia Roziman; Pro-Vice Chancellor, President and Chief Executive of Curtin Malaysia Professor Simon Leunig and Dean of Faculty of Business and Editor-in-Chief of IJBEL Professor Andreas Zins; Rector of UiTM Sarawak Professor Dato Jamil Hamali, and Chairman of the Sarawak Research Society Dr. Hiram Ting.

In her presentation during the event, Amelia said, “Business events are rich in many ways and we want the journal to reflect that wealth. Association and incentive events are superb economic drivers that deliver cutting-edge knowledge, solutions and innovation to drive social, sectoral, environmental and political developments.”

She added that BESarawak will be signing an MOU with the International Convention & Congress Association (ICCA) at IMEX Frankfurt this year. “Global partnerships with ICCA and similar associations will give the journal added international recognition.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Leunig said the IJBEL is a commendable initiative by BESarawak and Curtin Malaysia to provide multidisciplinary perspectives, industry-relevant knowledge and high-quality publications about Sarawak’s business events and legacies and tourism that would be of great use to researchers, practitioners, consumers and policymakers.

“As Curtin University’s largest global campus and a leading tertiary institution in Malaysia with interests in Borneo, South China Sea and tourism studies, as well as expertise in numerous other areas, Curtin Malaysia is well placed to actively contribute to such an endeavour,” he remarked.

He added that it was an excellent industry-academia partnership that will bridge the professional and academic perspectives and approaches to generating new knowledge and insights in business events and legacies, which will augur well for the future of business events and tourism in Sarawak.

According to Prof. Leunig, a considerable amount of work has gone into the journal so far, including the establishment of a very formidable international team of editors and reviewers from across the world.

He commended Prof. Zins and his staff at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Business for their role in managing the journal – as managing editors, the editorial secretariat, editorial assistants and reviewers. A number of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students are also on board as graduate research assistants, and experts at the Curtin Perth campus are involved as advisory board members and associate editors.

Prof. Zins, who has considerable experience in managing international journals including four years as editor-in-chief of the well-regarded International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, disclosed that there are only about 330 academic journals internationally in the narrower field of tourism, hospitality, leisure and sports, and only nine dedicated to events. Therefore, the IJBEL is truly unique in its content and approach, setting a first for Sarawak, he said.

For more information on the International Journal of Business Events and Legacies, the guide for authors and how to submit a paper, visit https://ijbel.businesseventssarawak.com/.

Information on Curtin Malaysia can be found on its website at www.curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

Amelia and Prof Leunig exchanging MOU documents with Prof Dato Jamil and Dr Ting.