Malaysia prepares for WTC2020 31 Oct 2019

Registration now open

The 46^th World Tunnel Congress, WTC2020, is preparing to open its doors to more than 2,000 participants from the underground construction fraternity in May 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With a focus on Innovation and Sustainable Underground Serving Global Connectivity, technical sessions will explore the latest innovations, trends and advances in all areas of tunnelling, from project development to design and construction and tunnel service life cycle strategies, all in a sustainable manner.

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) will host the event, to include lectures, technical sessions, various committee and working group meetings, site and technical visits, brief excursions and more.

ITA flag handed from Italy in 2019 to Malaysia as host country for WTC 2020
Dr Teik Aun Ooi, WTC2020 Organising Chairman (right) with David Kong Phooi Lai, IEM President (left) and Anna Ceppaluni, Honorary Consul of Malaysia in Italy, receive the ITA flag from Andrea Pigorini, SIG President, after WTC Naples in May 2019

Accompanied by an exhibition of more than 200 participating companies from across the world, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) will be the host venue for the week, underlining the position of Malaysia as a tunnelling and underground space development technological hub in Southeast Asia.

The week will start with an ITACET training course on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 May. Aimed at the next generation of young tunnellers, prominent global tunnelling experts will share their experiences. More than fifteen technical presentations will give insights into five main fields of tunnelling and underground space developments.

The conference will start on Sunday, 17 May with a special welcome dinner at 6pm followed on Monday 18 by an official opening ceremony. This will be followed by technical sessions, presentations, committee meetings and networking with fellow participants, exhibitors and business partners. The General Assembly of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) will meet during the conference.

Technical visits during WTC2020 will include:

• Monday 18 May – Tour of the SMART stormwater management and road tunnel in Kuala Lumpur
• Tuesday 19 May – Visit to the Malaysia Tunnelling Training Academy
• Wednesday 20 May – Tour of underground metro works for KVMRT Line 2 and Line 3
• Thursday 21 May – Technical visit to either the ongoing East Coast Rail Link or the completed Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer tunnel project

Local hotels and KLCC venue for WTC2020

To appreciate the local culture, there will be accompanied trips to explore the beauty of the surrounding area, and as WTC2020 in Kuala Lumpur falls during the month of Ramadan participants will have the opportunity to experience the Buka Puasa Breaking of Fast dinner at the KLCC. The closing ceremony at the end of the week will include the handover of the ITA flag to the next host country, Denmark, for WTC2021.

Organising Chairman Dr Teik Aun Ooi, welcomes all delegates to Malaysia for the WTC2020.

Visit WTC2020 for further details.