KUCHING: The sales of handicrafts during the 2024 Sarawak Borneo Craft Festival held in conjunction with the Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta cum Sarawak Regatta held at the Kuching Waterfront here is projected to reach RM1.5 million.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg expressed optimism that this target could be met, given the anticipated influx of visitors from overseas drawn by events like the 10th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta starting on Oct 25 to 27, which is also part of the Sarawak Regatta Kuching Waterfront Festival 2024.
“This year’s target for the sales of craft is around RM1.5 million, following last year’s sales of RM1.3 million.
“Thus, I see that with the events happening including the Kuching Marathon which will take place on Oct 27 at Padang Merdeka here, the craft sales could even surpass RM1.5 million,” he said.
He told reporters after officiating at the Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta cum Sarawak Regatta at the Kuching Waterfront Festival here today (Oct 26).
Abang Johari further acknowledged that Sarawak’s craft industry was making strides internationally, with growing demand for local crafts, including those created by the Penan community.
The craft festival held in conjunction with the Sarawak Regatta is organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) through Handicraft Malaysia.
Held on Oct 25 to Nov 3 from 10am to 10pm at the Kuching Waterfront, the craft festival features various Malaysian craft products from Sarawak, Sabah, and Peninsular Malaysia.
It involved 112 craft entrepreneurs and 14 craft communities from the Craft Community Development Project (PPKK) from Sarawak.
On a related note, Abang Johari expressed gratitude towards the Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Ministry for its efforts in organising the Sarawak Regatta cum Kuching Waterfront Festival.
“This year, we see there is an increase in participation in the Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta with about 2,000 rowers from 21 countries.
The international rowers hail from nations including England, Ireland, Canada, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Guatemala, Argentina, Qatar, Japan, Cyprus, Indonesia, Taiwan, Spain, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia (with teams from Sarawak, Sabah, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur).
This year, eight newcomers namely England, Ireland, Canada, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, and Taiwan are making their debut in the competition.
“There were many who were eager to join but we could only accept half of the applications due to limited space,” he said.
He also revealed that the state government has received positive feedback from the hotel industry regarding increased occupancy.
“This is driven by events like this, as well as various conferences held in Sarawak lately,” he added.
Earlier, Abang Johari also performed the eye-dotting ceremony onto the dragon boat to mark the opening of the dragon boat race.
Meanwhile, the 10th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta will conclude with its finals tomorrow, and will be followed by the Sarawak Regatta scheduled from Nov 1 to 3.
The highlight of the Sarawak Regatta will be the River King Cup, set to take place on Nov 3, to be witnessed by Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and his wife Toh Puah Datuk Patinggi Fauziah Mohd Sanusi.
