Sarawak holds first Creative Industry Coordination Meeting of 2026

KUCHING, 30 June 2026 – The Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) Sarawak held its first Sarawak Creative Industry Coordination Committee (SCICC) meeting of the year (Meeting No. 1/2026) chaired by Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Datuk Snowdan Lawan here. The session gathered people from government departments, industry players, universities, and other creative sector stakeholders to talk about where Sarawak’s creative industry is heading.

In his opening remarks, Snowdan said the creative industry is playing a bigger role in the economy, where it creates jobs, sparks new ideas, keeps cultural identity strong, and feeds into both tourism and community growth. He added that Sarawak’s diverse culture, living traditions, and deep well of creative talent put it in a strong position to grow a lively, long-term creative economy.

He explained that forming SCICC shows how serious the State government is about getting government bodies, industries, universities, and communities to work more closely together when shaping policies that genuinely match what the industry needs.

“No single agency or organisation can develop the creative industry alone. Through SCICC, we will strengthen consultation, coordination and collaboration to transform creativity into enterprise, culture into economic value and heritage into sustainable development,” he said.

The committee mainly acts as an advisory body, putting forward recommendations on how to grow and promote Sarawak’s creative industry. Four specialist groups support its work, each covering a different area, namely Creative Arts; Arts, Culture and Heritage; Media Production and Information Technology; as well as Design.

These groups will guide the Ministry on things like developing talent, opening up new markets, sparking innovation, turning ideas into income, adopting digital tools, and spotting fresh opportunities in the industry.

The Ministry also used the meeting to lay out its approach to strengthening the creative ecosystem, essentially pairing skills training with real chances to reach the market.

The Ministry’s “Dana Mudahcara Warisan dan Kesenian” fund keeps this going by backing traditional craft workshops, performing arts training, cooking classes, heritage record-keeping, exhibitions, and publications, all designed to sharpen the skills of artists, craftspeople, and cultural practitioners. On top of that, its Event Grant helps fund festivals and events that give creative entrepreneurs, craftspeople, performers, and food producers a stage to show off and sell their work.

Two examples mentioned were the Nyamai Sarawak Gastronomy Festival and the TAPAS International Asia Culinary Competition. Besides celebrating Sarawak’s food culture, these events also sparked new business connections, opened doors to new markets, and meant real, direct earnings for local entrepreneurs and community-based food producers.

The Ministry once again stressed how important it is to safeguard Sarawak’s creative assets, using both Intellectual Property (IP) protections and Geographical Indications (GI). So far, 41 Sarawak Signature Events have been registered for copyright.

It’s also continuing to push for Geographical Indication status for heritage-linked products. Having already successfully documented Baju Kuas Iban Balau Sri Aman, it will now work on proposals for Buriek Kapit and Baju Gagong Batang Rajang over the coming months, aiming to protect these one-of-a-kind Sarawak products while making them more valuable and credible in the marketplace.

The meeting closed with committee members holding a productive discussion on ways to build up talent, encourage entrepreneurship, support commercialisation, drive innovation, and strengthen collaboration across Sarawak’s creative industry.