Sarawak to host ICA Conference 2027 in historic first
- BT
- Oct 31
- 3 min read
BARCELONA, 31 October 2025: Sarawak has officially received the hosting rights for the 2027 edition of the International Council on Archives (ICA) Conference, making it a historic first for Sarawak and the second for Malaysia.
The officially handover ceremony took place earlier today in Barcelona, Spain, during the closing of ICA Congress 2025, where Sarawak’s Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah formally received the hosting rights on behalf of the state. ICA 2027 is set to highlight Sarawak’s commitment to heritage preservation, cultural diversity and digital transformation, aligning with the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
The International Council on Archives (ICA) is the leading global organisation dedicated to advancing archival and records management. Every four years, the ICA Congress gathers thousands of professionals for a robust programme of workshops, sessions, and keynotes. In alternate years, ICA hosts its biennial conference focused on current challenges and innovations in archival science. ICA’s legacy is the safeguarding of humanity’s memory built on continuity, trust, and connection.
"The Ministry of National Unity Malaysia is dedicated to integrating the conference into our national vision, ensuring the platform powerfully showcases Malaysia's rich, diverse heritage and reinforces our cultural and historical connections with the international archival community. In Malaysia, the importance of preserving our heritage, our documents, our stories, our digital records is an act of national unity." said Secretary General, Ministry of National Unity Malaysia, Dato' Haslina binti Abdul Hamid.
“ICA’s mission is about carrying legacies forward, and as the legacy capital of business events in Malaysia and Borneo, Sarawak is proud to carry the torch for 2027. We hope this conference will open new opportunities to develop more national and local collaborations on archives, so that the legacies we preserve today continue to inspire generations to come,” stated Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman at the handover ceremony.
“We are proud of the strong teamwork between federal and state partners that made ICA 2027 possible in Sarawak. It’s a privilege to be part of ICA’s legacy, and we hope it will inspire national and local archive professionals to create enduring legacies for the community and country,” said CEO of BESarawak, Amelia Roziman who was also present at the handover.
Malaysia’s successful bid to host the conference in Kuching, initiated in 2024, was the result of a strong multi-agency collaboration led by the Sarawak State Library and the National Archives of Malaysia, with the firm backing of both Federal and Sarawak Government agencies and universities, including the Office of the Premier of Sarawak, Ministry of National Unity Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), Sarawak Tourism Board, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak Branch, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) and the Sabah State Archives.
The upcoming ICA Conference 2027 will be held from November1 to 5, 2027 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) and expected to gather more than 1,000 delegates from around the world, including government agencies, archival institutions, associations, policymakers, and academic leaders. The prestigious international event will be co-organised by the Sarawak State Library, the National Archives of Malaysia, and the International Council on Archives (ICA).
