5,000 expected at Pitas small industry festival

KOTA KINABALU: Five thousand people are expected to attend the first-ever Festival Industri Kecil Sabah (FIKS) for the district of Pitas, which will be held at Pitas Community Hall from December 14 to 16.

The event, dubbed as FIKS Pitas 2018 will showcase the products of the district and its surrounding areas as well as the local entrepreneurs from other parts of Sabah.

It is organised by the Sabah State Government through the Pitas District Office and the Department of Industrial Deveyand Research (DIDR). There will be lucky draw prizes amounting to RM10,000, with attractive items such as a laptop, a flat screen TV, a chainsaw, electrical products, a pair of geese, special fruits and many more.

“The event also hopes to instill awareness on the rich natural resources of bananas, tapioca, sweet potatoes, the abundant marine resources in Marudu Bay and its value-adding potential,” organising chairman cum Pitas District Officer Bubudan O.T. Majalu told reporters at a press conference yesterday.

“Among the local Pitas products that will be showcased at the event is the Ikan Bilis (anchovies) Powder. The product can be used as flavouring for any type of food,” he added.

The event is expected to be officiated by Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau.

With all these resources, Bubudan expressed his hope that Pitas would soon be the new tourist and agro-marine destination.

“In order to achieve the development objectives for Pitas, the organiser has lined up a number of events that would involve all the relevant parties at the local level.

“One of the major events is the holding of a locally produced products exhibition featuring SMEs from all over Sabah, with emphasis on the products produced in the Pitas area.

“Towards this end, around 200 exhibitors would be exhibiting unique, exotic and iconic products from the various districts in Sabah,” Bubudan said.

He added that the event would also have a business sharing session that would feature successful entrepreneurs.

There are four entrepreneurs lined up for the sessions and each would focus on the district’s competitive areas such as bird nest’s farming, stingless honeybees’ farming, processing of marine resources and rearing of giant frogs for food.

The event would also feature a karaoke competition as well as appearances from local indigenous artists.

Also present at the press conference was DIDR director cum co-organising chairman Stephen Sampil.