SEMATAN - The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) will organise the Borneo Crafts Roadshow in Sabah and Sarawak this October to showcase the handicraft products of the two states for greater exposure.
Its Deputy Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan said the two states require different approaches due to their large geographic size and believed that the roadshow would yield exceptional results.
"This showcase will elevate local craft and provide benefits to entrepreneurs.
"I believe that with this roadshow of cultural arts, we can tell the national community out there about how beautiful and unique our crafts are in Borneo,” he said after opening the Sematan Festival on the Sarawak coast here today.
Khairul Firdaus said that after successfully bringing together all the craft entrepreneurs in Borneo through the roadshow, the ministry would intensify efforts to promote their craft products to reach a broader market.
"We can no longer regard craft as a small industry, and once we have synchronised all our entrepreneurs, let’s see how we can intensify the marketing.
"The ministry sees crafts as an important branch of indigenous skills, which can open up job opportunities and generate income for local entrepreneurs and the country,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Khairul Firdaus said that the Sematan Festival offers opportunities for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to participate in improving the local economy.
The Sematan Festival is an annual event organised since 1995 to popularise Sematan as a tourist destination in southern Sarawak in line with the aim of making the area one of the state’s eco-tourism centres. - BERNAMA