Borneo Craft Festival 2018 targets RM800,000 sales

KOTA KINABALU: The Borneo Craft Festival 2018, organised by the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation (MHDC) Sabah, is expected to garner RM800,000 in sales with the involvement of 110 craft entrepreneurs from Sabah and Sarawak.

The 11-day festival, which kicked off yesterday and ends on Dec 3, expects to attract around 10,000 visitors, and is open to the public from 9am-10pm (MondayFriday) and 8am-10pm on the weekend.

MHDC Sabah Deputy Director Easter Karen Robert Meisin said the festival aimed to gather and highlight the rich and unique quality of crafts, textiles and traditional dishes of the two states.

She said the festival was the best platform for craft entrepreneurs to display their creativity and products while providing them an opportunity to share ideas and explore the unique hand work of the entrepreneurs.

“The festival is also a platform for Sabah and Sarawak craft entrepreneurs to expand the market for their products as the festival is a meeting point for nationwide entrepreneurs, businessmen and handicraft wholesalers, hence boosting their incomes,'' she told Bernama here yesterday.

Aside from the exhibition and booths selling handicrafts, the event also features interesting activities including interactive craft, which would provide visitors a chance to create their own crafts, as well as traditional dance and music performances from Sabah and Sarawak.

The event is scheduled to be officiated by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi on Nov 26.

Meanwhile, Sarawak songket textile entrepreneur Ramtiniwaiti Ramlee, 32, hoped to take advantage of her participation in the festival to expand her songket market throughout Malaysia.

“This is also the best chance for me to exchange and acquire new ideas to improve the quality of my songket production,” she said.

For Haldah Lind, 47, an entrepreneur of forestbased handicrafts from Kota Belud, the festival was not only a platform to introduce and market her creative handiwork, but also a chance to expand her business network.