Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) deputy president Mint Leong speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 6, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
Mint Leong entered her office on the outskirts of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, an unusual occurrence for a Sunday.
Leong turned on her laptop and logged onto the official website of the ongoing China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). Since the expo kicked off in Beijing on Friday, Leong, deputy president of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, has been looking for fresh opportunities.
More than 17,000 companies are participating in this year's CIFTIS through Wednesday in Beijing. Organizers say over 2,000 firms have signed up as offline exhibitors, while more than 4,000 companies are showcasing their products and services online.
"We have chosen some conferences and forums that were related to tourism," Leong said. "We watched the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development the day earlier, during which speakers from different countries shared their experiences on their government's respective policies to alleviate the impact by the COVID-19 outbreak on the tourism industry."
"The conferences also shed some light on the future prospects of our industry," she said, adding that "it has been very fruitful for us, so we kept discussing it for the past two days."
Even though Leong could not be physically present in Beijing to participate in CIFTIS herself, the scale of the expo was nonetheless palpable. "It covers literally every aspect of services. For the tourism industry, the exhibition also touches on other aspects like culture. There are so many exhibitors that we didn't know of before."
Clicking her way through the website, Leong came across a winter sports section, one of the exhibition's themes.
"Despite not having many winter sports here in Malaysia, this could be an opportunity for us," she said. "Beijing is hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, if someone from Malaysia wants to watch the games, they would need tourism services like hotel and ticketing."
Leong said she found a few companies to reach out to.
"We would like to get in touch with those that could bring potential opportunities for us, something innovative that we are not familiar with, like big data," she said.
"Our business is closely linked with China, so we need to understand the trend there and catch up," she added.
Addressing the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2020 CIFTIS on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to overcome difficulties to promote the development and prosperity of global trade in services and push for global economic recovery as early as possible.
Leong said Xi's speech has inspired her. "Even though we could not participate in CIFTIS due to the pandemic, it won't stop our cooperation," she said. "We just need to adjust ourselves and find a new way to develop."
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) deputy president Mint Leong speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 6, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) deputy president Mint Leong looks at the website of China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in her office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 6, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)
