PUTRAJAYA: The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) has been appointed to chair and host four key conferences as part of Malaysia's ASEAN 2025 chairmanship, including the ASEAN Real Estate Summit 2025, which will be held from July 2-4 next year.

Its minister Nga Kor Ming said the additional events would include the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Forum (ASUF) from Aug 4-5, the ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) and Meeting of Governors and Mayors of ASEAN Capitals (MGMAC) from Aug 5-7 and the 8th ASEAN Smart Cities Network Annual Meeting from Aug 25-28.

Nga said KPKT also aims to host the Asia-Pacific Conference on Housing and Urban Development from April 14-15, showcasing Malaysia's commitment to leading regional urban development dialogues.

"This initiative is part of Malaysia's bid to secure the support of Asia-Pacific nations for our candidacy as President and Executive Board Member of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for the 2026-2029 term," he said at the national-level celebration of World Town Planning Day 2024 (HPBS) here today.

Nga also said that the National Planning Congress (NPC) 2024, themed "Urbanism Next 3R+: Reimagine, Reinvent, Revitalise, Reconnect," will convene tomorrow and is expected to be officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

NPC 2024 will feature members of the Megacity Think Tank Alliance (MeTTA) alongside stakeholders in urban and rural planning and development.

During today's event, the National Smart City Platform (NSCP) was launched under the Malaysia Urban Observatory (MUO), integrating smart city data with big data analytics to enable evidence-based decision-making for resolving urban issues.

Nga also presented the Malaysia Urban Planning Awards (MUPA) 2024 to 21 winners of the Sustainable City Award, 20 recipients of the Smart City Rating Award and 10 winners of the Best Planning Practices Award.

MUPA serves as a platform for recognising contributions by government, private sector entities, non-governmental organisations, local leaders and community groups in building more liveable and inclusive environments at both neighbourhood and city levels.

HPBS 2024's theme, 'Sedaya Upaya Membina Bandar Mampan dan Pintar #DemiPertiwi' (Building Sustainable and Smart Cities for Our Nation) underscores the government's commitment to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, a global agenda endorsed by 193 nations in 2015.