SADONG JAYA: Sales value of craft products in the country has reached RM182.7 million as of Sept 30 accounting for 91.35 percent of the RM200 million target for the year 2020.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said Sarawak has 1,040 craft entrepreneurs including textile crafts, jungle products, metal products, land products, and various crafts with sales valued at RM11.8 million thus far.
Currently, there are 5,984 craft entrepreneurs and 22,398 craft community members in Malaysia.
“In 2019, Kraftangan Malaysia successfully achieved sales value of craft products amounting to RM519.7 million and recorded 5,816 craft entrepreneurs.
“However, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, Kraftangan Malaysia has projected a new target for craft sales in 2020 amounting to RM200 million compared to the initial target of RM500 million,” she revealed.
Nancy said this when officiating at the Batang Sadong Craft Community Development Programme at Dewan Komuniti Sadong Jaya, here on Sunday.
Under the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), Nancy said her ministry through Kraftangan Malaysia was actively implementing various programmes in an effort to help local craft entrepreneurs ride the challenging economic situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We all know that due to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, our country is still under the recovery movement control order (RMCO) until December.
“Currently, the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is also implemented in several states in the Peninsula and Sabah.
“These controls and restrictions to some extent also affect the people’s income and economic recovery efforts will also take a long time.
“Therefore, our presence here today is to help those who are affected by this uncertainty to overcome the challenges, generate greater economy as well as incomes,” she said.
