Speech By The Honourable Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri Bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, The Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia at The Opening Ceremony of Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival (KLICF)
SPEECH BY
THE HONOURABLE
DATO' SERI MOHAMED NAZRI BIN
TAN SRI ABDUL AZIZ
The Minister Of Tourism And Culture Malaysia
At The Opening Ceremony
Of
Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival (KLICF)
Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex
10 September 2015 (Thursday), 8.30 pm
(Salutation to be confirmed by organizing committee)
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Salam Sejahtera dan Salam Satu Malaysia
1.   Alhamdulillah, saya memanjatkan rasa syukur ke hadrat Allah S.W.T kerana atas limpah kurniaNya kita dianugerahkan kesihatan untuk bersama-sama pada malam ini di majlis perasmian Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival 2015 atau KLICF yang membawa tema "Kraf Menyatukan Masyarakat"ÂÂ.
2.   Terlebih dahulu, saya merakamkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan dan terima kasih kepada Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia atau lebih dikenali sebagai Kraftangan Malaysia kerana menjemput saya merasmikan festival ini. Bagi pihak Kementerian Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan Malaysia, saya ingin merakamkan Selamat Datang kepada tetamu yang dihormati dan semua negara-negara peserta yang mengambil bahagian. Tahniah saya ucapkan kepada Kraftangan Malaysia di atas usaha gigih mereka untuk menganjurkan KLICF yang gah ini yang disertai 400 usahawan kraf dari 33 negara dari seluruh dunia.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
3. It gives me great pleasure to be amongst you today to inaugurate the Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival 2015 (KLICF). On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC), I would like to extend our warm welcome to our distinguished guests and all members of the participating countries to Malaysia. I am also happy to be a part of the KLICF Celebration which commences today and will culminate on 13 September, 2015. I am enthralled to see and feel the creations of handcrafts sector. It is a unique event where the connoisseur and layman can feel and buy exquisite products. Undoubtedly, the product range represents the essence of our handcraft tradition.
4. My congratulations to Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, popularly known as Kraftangan Malaysia, an agency under the purview of my Ministry. Today, we shall be able to witness a large gathering of approximately 400 handicraft artisans from 34 countries, namely :
- Azerbaijan
- Bhutan
- Bosnia
- Brunei
- China
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Ghana
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Labenon
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Peru
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Republic of Guinea
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Venezuela
- Uzbekistan
- United States of America, and
- Malaysia
5. Handicrafts represent the rich, traditional and diverse cultural heritage of the country which is associated with people's lifestyle and history. It is pertinent to uphold the handicraft industry as it has cultural and economic importance. Their cultural importance pertains to preservation of heritage, traditional skills and talent. The economic importance lies in the high employment potential, low capital investment and a prominent medium for foreign earnings.
6. According to UNCTAD Global Database on Creative Economy 2013 Report, in the year 2011 the world trade in creative goods totaled a record of approximately USD450 billion. Arts and crafts represent USD35 billion or 8 per cent of the world trade of creative goods. Statistics by the Craft Central Global Craft Marketplace Report published in 2015, states that the global handicrafts industry accounts for a market share of USD100 billion. This connotes that handicrafts sector has a prominent place in the world trade.
7. In the context of Malaysia, the government invests in its cultural and creative industry which includes the handicraft industry, targeting not only growth in employment but also a quantum jump in sales. The government has implemented measures to revitalize the industry and breathe a new spirit of competition and creativity to Malaysian artisans. The handicraft industry in Malaysia has a major impact on the economic growth. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan, from January 2011 to July 2015, the sale of handicrafts accounts to RM1.73 billion which is 104 per-cent of the Tenth Malaysia Plan target of RM1.67 billion. It is envisaged that the industry will continuously progress in the years to come.
8. Besides its cultural and economic importance, handicraft can be utilized as a therapeutic media for either an illness, an injury or just as a way to relieve stress. According to Carol Tubbs and Margaret Drake, therapists from the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, the therapeutic nature of handicraft is something that enhances personal strengths. Handicraft can therefore help a person to revitalise his life through the design process, preparation of raw materials processing, assembling, and completing the final product.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
9. The Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival provides an immense opportunity to the artisans for sale of their products. But most importantly, it showcases good workmanship, quality design and authentic products peculiar to each country. This opportunity provides livelihood to a large number of artisans from all countries. This acts as a platform for the industry players and stakeholders to meet up to share the ideas, knowledge and the uniqueness of the handicraft industry from different countries. It is a great event which helps in keeping alive tradition and culture of handicrafts for ages. This festival will also provide leisure and recreational facilities to both domestic and international visitors.
10. With the festival theme 'Crafts Unite People', we are confident that all the participants will help to disseminate the vision, to promote understanding and to harmonize the diversity of our different cultures.
11. The four day Festival in essence, consists of three major components i.e handcraft sales, handicrafts demonstration and local and foreign cultural performances. The handcraft sales activities involve 174 local artisans and 126 foreign artisans. The festival will also showcase 18 international and 20 local crafts-making demonstrations such as handmade tie and dye, scarf embroidery, weaving, hand painted silk pareos, Kebaya Nyonya embroidery, brassware, and pandanus weaving.
12. The Kuala Lumpur Craft Festival 2015 is also organised in support of the national tourism campaign for the Malaysia Year of Festival (MyFEST) 2015 with the theme 'Endless Celebration'. The MyFEST 2015 seeks to maintain Malaysia as the most popular tourist destination with a target of 29.4 million tourist arrivals and MYR89 billion tourist receipts. This campaign will complement the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) which sets a target of 36 million tourist arrivals with MYR168 billion tourist receipts in the year 2020.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
13. It is my fervent hope that the handicraft industry continues to flourish in the coming years. I urge handicraft producers to be more innovative with their designs in order to meet the ever changing needs of the consumers. Concerted effort should be undertaken to overcome challenges ahead, particularly in expanding handicraft products in the burgeoning domestic and international markets.
14. I believe, artisans who are ready to take on the world, will spare no effort to enhance their skills and expertise in order to expand their products, even in the wake of fierce competition. The volume of production should also be enhanced in order to meet huge demands from new emerging markets. Eventually the marketing of these products should utilise the available and latest sale platform either conventional or online, to ensure these products can compete with any in the market.
Ladies and gentlemen,
15. Last but not least, on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, I wish to thank each and every one of you for your support in making the Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival a success. Let us join hands to preserve our heritage which is unique to our country.
On that note, I declare the Kuala Lumpur International Craft Festival 2015 open and wish all the participants a great success in your endeavor.
Thank you.
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