History  
     
 

The Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) is a monument to Umno’s 50 years of success. It was originally named Bangunan Tunku Abdul Rahman and the tower block, Menara Dato’ Onn to honour UMNO’s first president Datuk Onn Jaafar.

This 42 storey exhibition centre cum UMNO headquarters combines the best of modern architecture with traditional Malay culture.

Its rich history which spans 11 years is best summarised in the table below.

1971
  • UMNO’s general assembly decided to construct a building to permanently house UMNO’s headquarters, replacing the current premises along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman
  • The project was spearheaded by Malaysia’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak who chaired the building committee
  • A special fund was set up to finance the project
1972
  • UMNO purchased a four hectare plot of land along Jalan Tun Ismail
  • RM 3 million was collected from all UMNO divisions and individuals
  • Deputy prime minister Tun Hussein Onn took over the chairmanship of the building project. When he was appointed Prime Minister and acting UMNO president, he relinquished his chairman position to Tengku Razaleigh
1979
  • The UMNO Supreme Council agreed on the design for PWTC
  • The building commitee under the chairmanship of Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad began construction of the building
1985
  • The building that was to be Kuala Lumpur’s World Trade Centre is named Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) after Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj
1986
  • The first event hosted was the PATA Convention which was held from April 12-16 where more than 2,500 participants attended the event
1989
  • Hosted the prestigious Commonwealth Heads of government from October 18-24
 
     
     
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