SCB to help spur growth of Sarawak’s agriculture sector

KUCHING: Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) will help spur the state’s agriculture sector growth by leveraging on business events through its dedicated associate platform for government ministries and agencies BESarawak Alliance ( BESA).

A press release said among the first initiatives of BESA is to promote collaboration between government ministries through business events such as taking part in agriculturebased familiarisation (Agri-Fam) trips and other activities like the inaugural Sarawak AgroFest 2018, a premier agriculture festival from Oct 20-28 to promote the state’s agriculture and agro-based industry.

“To realise our goal of becoming a net exporter of food by 2030, we are looking to work closely with alternative sectors including business events as it is a catalyst for technological advancement, upskilling opportunities for local champions and networking opportunities with global experts,” said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youths and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that business events has the unique capability to create a neutral, yet dynamic platform to share the best practices, ground-breaking findings, and effective business models.

“With initiatives such as BESA, we are able to highlight Sarawak’s agriculture potential and explore future collaborations in attracting more agriculturebased business events,” said Abdul Karim.

The Agri-Fam will gather 40 experts from Thailand, Indonesia and their Malaysian counterparts consisting of researchers, academicians and the media in a 5- day expedition to explore future collaborations in agro- based business events.

There will be a series of technical tours as well as participation at the International Conference on Agriculture and Agro- based Industry Sarawak ( ICAAS) 2018 to be held at the Penview Convention Centre Demak.

SCB chief operating officer Amelia Roziman said business events can bring tremendous value and growth to the sector.

“It is the key to create a sustainable and stronger Sarawak as it is a pivotal driver for the economic development of the state as well as the delegates at the 2nd edition of ICAAS,” said Amelia.

For more information on ICAAS and Sarawak Agrofest, please log on to https://sarawakagrofest. com.my/ while further details on Sarawak Convention Bureau are available at www. businesseventssarawak.com or call 082-242516.