Opening Speech By YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Minister Of Tourism And Culture Malaysia at The Golden Phoenix Award
OPENING SPEECH BY
YB DATO' SERI MOHAMED NAZRI TAN SRI ABDUL AZIZ
Minister Of Tourism And Culture Malaysia
At The
Golden Phoenix Award
Grand Ballroom,
Palace of Golden Horses Hotel
5 September 2015 (Saturday), 2.00 pm
(Final Salutations to be provided by organizing secretariat)
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon, Salam Sejahtera and Salam 1Malaysia.
1. First of all, I would like to thank the organizer for inviting me to officially open the ceremony of the Golden Phoenix Award today. I understand that this meeting is Asia's largest annual gathering for successful women across the Asia Pacific region.
2. It is indeed a great honour to be the thorn among the glittering roses, and to be sharing unique experiences from each of you. This ceremony offers a good opportunity for all the participants to interact with one another and to gain new experience and knowledge, especially coming from those with different and varied background, professions and places.
Ladies and gentlemen,
3. Being a woman is unique in the sense that she holds a position that no man can hope or aspire to be. To quote Diane Mariechild, the author of Mother Wit and The Inner Child, she said, "A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform."
4. While traditionally a woman's place is at home, she has by sheer grit and determination transformed herself to be at par with man in almost all areas that had been dominated by the male species. This is a welcome trend that has taken place in the last few decades as can be seen very clearly by the preponderance of women holding important positions in various fields of endeavor.
5. The 2015 MasterCard Index of Women's Advancement (MIWA), states that capability (knowledge assets) and employment (workforce participation) are two strong indicators of women across Asia Pacific in achieving socio-economic parity with men. This suggests that women have more opportunities to apply their inherent abilities towards the betterment of their nation and society.
6. The research conducted by MasterCard has also proven that women play an important role in various fields of activities and hence contribute a great deal in improving all aspects of life of a nation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
7. Today's meeting with all of you is a very significant event for me. You are all women, all successful entrepreneurs and you are all part of an international business network. Your presence and interaction with one another can further build a better network of women entrepreneurs all over the world.
8. However, I believe that there are still very few women entrepreneurs at the national level, more so internationally. So there is a tremendous scope for improvement and opportunities for you to claim a bigger stake in the field of entrepreneurship worldwide.
9. As the Minister of Tourism and Culture, I would like to suggest to you to look at one area that you can tap into, that has huge potential in tourism industry.
10. International tourist arrival had reached 1,138 million in 2014, a 4.7% increase over the previous year, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. For 2015, UNWTO forecasts international tourism to grow by 3% to 4%, further contributing to the global economic recovery. Hence there is an abundant opportunity for you to play an active role in this industry.
11. Tourist arrivals to Malaysia for 2014 also soared with a hike of 6.7%. The country received 27.4 million tourists from January to December compared to 25.7 million tourists in 2013. This shows that the travelling trend is always on a consistent rise and it provides an avenue for active participation by entrepreneurs in this field.
12. The categories of business in this industry are endless, from transport, tourist guides, cultural attractions, entertainment, sports, medical tourism, food outlets, hotels and resorts. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia provides assistance and guidance to those who are keen to start their business in this sector. So there is definitely a huge market in this industry that can cater to any specific need or requirement in line with your own specific interest.
Ladies and gentlemen,
13. Golden Phoenix Award is an appropriate platform for women from around the globe to meet, gather information, share expertise, seek opportunities, explore new markets and to enhance womens role and place in all fields of endeavor.
14. Through this event, we hope to promote our local women entrepreneurs to play an important role nationally and internationally. At the same time, we hope all the foreign women entrepreneurs will take part to establish new networking, or acquire new business opportunities.
15. Malaysia is well known as a unique country with beautiful cultural diversity and this actually provides new markets and opportunities in investment and development that await to be discovered.
16. Malaysia is a multi-cultural country and foreign entrepreneurs feel at home doing business here. Investors from all over the world such as Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Japan, Korea can be seen in our central business districts. So your possible business role and participation in our country will blend in well with the existing international scene that you find in the business districts.
17. We hope to see more and more women entrepreneurs in future Golden Phoenix Award. Lastly, please enjoy your stay here. Take time to savour what Malaysia can offer you, be it leisure or business. Thank you for your participation and useful contributions that you bring with you here for the benefit of everyone present.
Good day. Terima kasih.
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