BY NURIN PATRA
KUCHING: Gastronomy plays a crucial role in Sarawak, offering opportunities for economic growth.
In stating this, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan said that gastronomy also has a role to preserve the state’s cultural and social cohesion.
“The creative industry is a key pillar in Sarawak’s socio-economic development and, therefore, the gastronomy plays a crucial role in this area,” he said.
He said during when officiating at the opening ceremony of the third Sarawak Gastronomy (SAGO) Festival 2024 at The Hills Shopping Mall on Sunday.
On the event, he said it was a testament to the growth and potential of Sarawak’s culinary arts looking at the growth of the festival in the past three years.
“The SAGO Group’s SAGO Festival and Borneo Tuak Festival has successfully helped our micro and small enterprises especially from the food and beverages (F&B) industry to access and expand their market.
“Hence, I envision SAGO continuing to develop the culinary arts ecosystem, strengthening the creative industry. One day, I hope to see Sarawak’s gastronomy go global, just like Chengdu,” he said.
Snowdan also said he was delighted to see the involvement of chef Yenna Wiguna from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, Culinary Ambassadors Felix and Angel, influencers and journalists from Kalimantan, and Eko Hardianto from Bandung, Indonesia, who is an anthropologist and co-founder of Parti Gastronomi, that help to enrich the festival and strengthened Sarawak cultural ties with its closest neighbour.
“We can learn from each other, and this gastronomy diplomacy is crucial to the friendship between our countries, especially since we share a lot of similarities when it comes to food and cultures,” he said.
He added it was also good to see that the festival also showcased chefs from all across Sarawak, cooking up forgotten heritage recipes, showcasing unique Iban and Bidayuh cooking, and many more, as well as thought-provoking panel discussions to inspire discourse and conversations around the theme of ‘Food Manifesto’.
Earlier, chief festival coordinator and SAGO Group director, Arif Abdul Rahman said Sarawak is blessed with incredible biodiversity, offering the people unique ingredients that become a culinary treasure chest that it can share with the world.
“Even the United Nations recognises this, conferring Kuching the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy recognition,” he said.
Arif described this year’s festival’s theme, ‘Food Manifesto’ as being more than just food and it is about addressing food politics, security, and the role of gastronomy in building a better world.
“We are also excited to foster gastronomy diplomacy, building closer ties with our neighbours in Indonesia,” he said.
Started three years ago, Arif said SAGO Group is becoming recognised as an ecosystem builder for F&B key players in Sarawak.
On a related note, he announced that the Borneo Tuak Festival would be back from September 14 to 17 this year.
