TAWAU: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman says the state government will continue to develop the state’s handicraft industry in line with the Strategic Direction Policy which focuses on tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.
Musa said the Sabah government’s emphasis on handicrafts follows the realisation that the industry has great potential to generate income and contribute to the state’s economy.
“The Federal Government had previously approved RM20mil for Sabah to develop its handicraft industry and part of it has already been channelled to the State Development Office for this purpose,” he said at the launch of the East Coast Handicraft Carnival organised by the Sabah Foundation at the Dewan Masyarakat here, recently.
Impressive work: Musa (second left) enquiring state assemblyman Datuk Harman Mohammad about a sculpture during the carnival. “We are grateful to the federal government for their responsiveness towards Sabah’s needs.
“We were given a big allocation in the 2012 Budget,” he added.
Musa said the construction of the RM30mil Sabah Handicraft Centre in Keningau by the Sabah Foundation was evidence of the state government’s commitment to the handicraft industry.
The Handicraft Centre would not only be a location to showcase local handicrafts, but also to process and produce handicrafts using the latest technology, he added.
Musa said the government, through federal and state agencies, would continue to organise events such as carnivals and seminars to increase public awareness of the potential of handicrafts as a source of income.
He said, based on statistics from the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation in 2010, Sabah had 2,182 handicraft entrepreneurs, the highest number in the country.
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