‘Coopetition’ among industry players vital
Published on: Tuesday, March 05, 2024
By: Jeremy S Zabala
For “coopetition” to exist among business players, Grimmer said there should be an entity that acts as a platform for all interested parties in Sabah to “meet” that would be known as a convention bureau in which its establishment was recently announced by the State Government.
Kota Kinabalu: “Coopetition” among industry players – particularly in Sabah – would be a vital ingredient of leading the State in becoming the ideal Business Event (BE) destination on par with other neighbouring countries or even at global level.
GainingEdge Executive Chairman Gary Grimmer said establishing a “coopetition” relationship amongst industry players would establish a strong foundation for global occasions such as business events that would be an attraction to interested parties from other countries.
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Despite being in a “competition” among each other, he said they (business players) should reach a single understanding of working together as it would give foreign investors the confidence of not only visiting Sabah but also to have joint ventures in any available businesses.
“When we look at the supplier community, they are competitive with each other and that is very natural. But when you are trying to bring global events, it is important that we have what we call – “coopetition” – cooperate first and then work competitively to get a piece of the pie.
“It is vital for supplier communities to establish this (coopetition) relationship as those who normally compete, would work together to build a (particular) business that would make Sabah a successful destination,” he said at a Business Event Forum at Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), here.
For “coopetition” to exist among business players, Grimmer said there should be an entity that acts as a platform for all interested parties in Sabah to “meet” that would be known as a convention bureau in which its establishment was recently announced by the State Government.
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He said the setting up of the bureau would structure a platform for industry players to work on but also shows that Sabah is heading towards an apt path of advertising the State’s ability and competency of being an international business events destination.
“Now I think that is visionary, I think that is important because convention bureau is the one to bring the supplier community together in a coordinated fashion, collaborating and working together to promote Sabah to the global market. So that piece of the puzzle is important,” he added.
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He also said this was idea – of making Sabah as a business event destination – should be emphasised even more as the State had continuously displayed strong potential not only to catch up with other parts of the country but also becomes a major industry player.
Aside from the convention bureau’s role, he said industry players should acknowledge and understand Sabah’s “weakness” that requires not just attention but intervention if they want to move further forward.
With the direction Sabah is currently heading, he also said this should be an encouragement for the industry players to work with the government to ensure that the foothold is not only utilised but also a path would be paved event further.
Grimmer was referring to the well-established Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) as well as the increased flights that have been growing in recent years which should be an encouragement for industry players to “lure” foreign interests and investors.
“Sabah has a lot of potential. It had a little bit of challenge (in the past) with capacity as it did not have a modern convention centre like it does now. It did not have as much air service as it does now, and I think the industry is beginning to mature the supplier community.
“All of that needs to happen. So, to fill this convention centre and to bring business events to all parts of Sabah, a united effort is highly required which is not only meant for the business community but the government as well.
“(At the same time) the government has made a good commitment so far but essentially it is important for the government to understand that developing the industry goes way beyond just bringing investors as this industry is about economic and social transformation. Bringing in the right kinds of meetings is going to help the government accomplish its goals and really improve Sabah,” he said.
Although Sabah has an obvious potential, Grimmer urged that industry players should not rush into the idea of making it as a focal point for business players to gather but instead slowly learn and improve the requirements needed for the State to be a business event destination.
He said there are other states in Malaysia that have gone through enough experience to reach a commendable height despite facing competitions from neighbouring countries.
Citing an example, he said Sarawak had established its Borneo Convention Centre for 17 years which gives them the edge or better understanding of becoming a business event destination as they are managed by sophisticated (or experienced) industry players.
“It is a very competitive marketplace and Sabah, on the face of it, is competing against destinations that are well down the road.
They have been doing this for years (such as) the Borneo Convention Centre in Sarawak that has been around for 17 years. Their bureau itself has been around for most of that time, as far as I know, so they are very well developed.
“Their community has come together; their supplier community has become more sophisticated. So, Sabah must take that same journey where it is about beginning to bring in business events, getting supplier community to have a strong capacity in terms of servicing international customers and ensuring that the government is committed so that it can grow. I think the result of all that is that Sabah can grow fast.
“I think that would be the measure that I would use that it can be one of the fastest growing (destinations) that it can become a major player in Southeast Asia (SEA) and in the future may be Asean (or) beyond. But I think the goal right now is Sabah should have its sights (locked) in becoming a major player in Southeast Asia,” he added.
Noting on Sabah’s potential, Grimmer said the players should start slow rather than being too “ambitious” and understand the requirements they need to fulfil in establishing a business event destination that would attract not just visitors but also investors.
He said by tackling the existing issues would be a great start for the State to create a solid foundation which would give confidence to business players from around the world to make their presence here.
As there are some business conventions with large numbers of visitors, he also said these numbers should not be a concern to the business players or interested parties as the end results of every meeting is priority as creating links or connections would be the focus of business events.
“A lot of (conventions) destinations are thinking in terms of size and scale, they’re thinking of wanting a big event. I think it is important to understand that having a global (business) meeting (is to) try developing its renewables industry or any kind of industry cluster.
“Even if it is only 500 delegates, you are having a global engagement which allows you to form a global network and you are bringing in investors, essential investors.
“This industry is all about global trade and intellectual engagement and by bringing these meetings (here), Sabah is connecting itself to the world, connecting the lead professional community to the rest of the work and this gives potential for projecting Sabah into the global trading environment. So even small conventions should suffice,” he added.
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