WITH the recent handing over of the ITA-AITES Flag to Malaysia, the annual World Tunnel Congress (WTC), a foremost global gathering of the greatest tunnelling minds and expertise, will next convene on our home grounds for the year 2020.
The flag handing over was held at WTC 2019 which concluded recently in Naples, Italy. ITA-AITES flag ceremony is the “ritual” to mark Malaysia as the official host for the ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress 2020 and 46th General Assembly. This is a much-anticipated moment as Malaysia won the bid to host WTC 2020 beating two other contenders, India and Australia at ITA-AITES 44th General Assembly at Bergen, Norway in 2017.
At that time, Malaysia beat Australia by 30 votes to 22 votes, gaining the backing of the 52 Member Nations who voted then to host WTC 2020.
WTC is held annually in conjunction with the General Assembly of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES).
The Congress is held to promote the use of tunnels and underground space through knowledge sharing and application of technology whilst the General Assembly gathers all Member Nations to deliberate affairs of the Association.
Malaysia will be hosting WTC 2020 under the aegis of The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM). WTC 2020 will be themed “Innovation and Sustainable Underground Serving Global Connectivity” to reflect the urgent needs of the times to innovate towards sustainable developments.
WTC 2020’s Organising Chairman, Ir. Dr Ooi Teik Aun proudly announced that the Congress would definitely be inspired by the flurry of tunnelling progress and successes that Malaysia has achieved in the past decades. “From our mega dam projects, road systems to transportation and more, Malaysia has a lot to offer in terms of tunnelling knowledge and innovation.” Ooi said.
The Congress will focus on the presentation of technical papers and e-posters, tunnelling training courses and exhibitions from organisations worldwide displaying the best and latest in the tunnelling scene.
The itinerary also includes technical visits to completed and ongoing tunnelling projects in Malaysia. WTC 2020 will be held from 15th – 21st May 2020 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre with anticipated participants numbering over 2000 and more than 200 exhibition booths.
Founded in 1974, International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) is the leading international organization promoting the use of tunnels and underground space through knowledge sharing and application of technology.
Presently (2019), ITA has 78 Member Nations and more than 300 corporate or individual Affiliate Members.
The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia which is a governing body that seeks to promote the advancement of science and engineering in Malaysia was endorsed as the 50th Member Nation of ITA-AITES at the General Assembly held in Durban in May 2000.
For more information on participation, please go to the link below:
