Malaysia's Capital Kl To Host 9th World Urban Forum Next Year

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur will host the Ninth World Urban Forum (WUF9) in February next year. The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry said Kuala Lumpur will be the second city in Asia to host the forum after Nanjing, China in 2008. "Malaysia's preparedness to host WUF9 reflects its commitment to the world in the aspect of sustainable and prosperous urban development," said the ministry in a statement. The statement said that the willingness was also in line with the national aspiration to implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Conference of the Parties (COP21)- Paris Agreement and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) document. It was adopted by the government during the Third Conference of the United Nations on Housing and Sustainable Urban development in Quito, Ecuador on Oct 20 last year. WUF is a technical forum held by UN Habitat, in a different city each year. The forum has become one of the major international events to exchange views and experiences on the challeges of urbanisation. WUF9 will be a very important platform to witness the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and Malaysia has the opportunity to showcase rural development initiatives including housing, community projects, heritage conservation, urban planning and wellbeing aspects to participants from all over the world. Malaysia has the opportunity to provide an authentic experience to the participants at WUF9 to enjoy the country's beauty and find out about the cultures of the multi-racial Malaysian society. The economic impact to the nation would be tremendous via the influx of the participants from abroad and would simultaneously profit the hotel and transportation industries and boost national tourism. -- BERNAMA