KUCHING: Kuching is now a new member of the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN), the first city in Malaysia to be admitted to the list.
Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said his Ministry received an official letter from Unesco on Nov 16, to inform that Kuching has been accepted as a member of the UCCN in the field of Gastronomy.
"We are really proud as our state capital - Kuching is the first city in Malaysia to be accepted as a member of UCCN – in the field of Gastronomy. This is an outstanding achievement and will have a positive impact on local socio-economic development.
"This will increase the visibility and positive image of both Malaysia and Sarawak, especially on the international stage," he said at a press conference today.
"We are grateful to mother nature and all the different ethnic groups in Sarawak for their unique heritage menu and food preparation techniques, which helped us build a strong case to get into the list. Our bountiful harvests are our winning factor and our stories ought to be told to the world," he said.
The main objective of UCCN, an initiative introduced by Unesco in 2004, was to foster innovation and creativity as a driver towards sustainable city development. There are seven main categories of creative cities outlined by Unesco, namely knowledge and literature, film, music, design, traditional crafts and arts, gastronomy and media arts.
Karim said the application was a team collaboration by his Ministry and the city councils who were backed by a number of Sarawak stakeholders.
He said the application represents the synergy between public institutions at federal, state and local authority level as well as the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), namely the Culinary Heritage and Arts Society Sarawak (CHASS), a broad coalition of stakeholders tasked with the promotion and preservation of the state's gastronomic traditions, and Society Atelier Sarawak, which previously spearheaded a successful application to list Kuching as a World Craft City under the World Crafts Council.
Karim also expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) and Kuching North City Council (DBKU) for such a marvellous achievement and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Ministry, especially its Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, for supporting Sarawak and facilitating the submission to Unesco.
"However, this is just the beginning of a long journey to sustain. Like all member cities, Kuching is expected to place the 2030 Agenda (a global movement) at the heart of its future development strategies and plans, in making the city inclusive, safe and resilient," he said.
Karim said the steering Committee and working committee established earlier will continue to work on the programmes and initiatives planned to sustain the status of Kuching as a member of the UCCN.