Main table at the brunch session
By V. Sivaji
Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) hosted members of the Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA) at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre at a networking session.
The gathering was held over a brunch session.
On hand to welcome his guests was PCEB chief executive officer Ashwin Gunasekeran and his team.
Leading the NIMA team was Gajesh Girdhar, National Coordinator NIMA and Rakesh Arora, Convention chairman, NIMA.
Lending support was Datin S. Barathi, general manager Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI), Ben Ho vice president of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH Penang Chapter), Francis Teo, Head of Conventions SP Setia and representatives from the various hotels, airlines, travel agents and other stakeholders.
In all, some 60 members from NIMA attended the gathering.
“The Network of Indian MICE Agents and PCEB have a long standing working relationship. This culminated in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing in November last year.
“The strong ties between India and Penang actually started in 2017 when we started tapping the India market.”
“Since then, we have seen much growth and activity. Today, India is a key market for business tourism. Along with China, India is a giant economy in the world right now,” said Ashwin in his opening address.
The guests were treated to some of the local favourites like tosai, biryani rice, masala tea, chicken curry, vadai, curry puffs, panipuri and other favourites.
Members of the hospitality industry managed to exchange name cards with their Indian counterparts at the networking session for mutual benefit.
