KUCHING: German president Dr Frank-Walter Steinmer’s visit to Sarawak on Saturday (Feb 18) could impact a different outlook towards Sarawak and Malaysia especially on palm oil plantations.
Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that Europe as a continent is well-known to be quite critical of oil palm plantation among many others.
Abdul Karim hoped that the perception of Europeans could change after Bruno Manser Fund had published negative publicity on Sarawak.
“I was made to understand that he (Steinmer) loves nature and that he was happy (with his visit).
“He is a very green person. This was his first visit to Sarawak and specifically he loves nature,” he said.
Abdul Karim was speaking at a press conference in Creatively Unique (CU) Sarawak 2023 held at the Padang Merdeka today.
With the visit by the German president, Abdul Karim hoped that there will be more positive perception on Sarawak.
He added that the German president was happy with his visit to Sarawak after exploring the Semenggoh National Park on Saturday and also planting trees at the Kuching Wetlands National Park.
Following that, he added that more conservation efforts and policies that Sarawak had made resulting in Sarawak to have many national parks.
Abdul Karim is also hopeful that there will be an increase of German tourists coming over to Sarawak with Germany being the second most popular European nation after the United Kingdom to come to Sarawak.
He also informed that he would be attending the ITB Berlin, a tourism market event in Germany in two weeks’ time as part of a marketing Strategy by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB).
The Creatively Unique (CU) Sarawak 2023 event was held over two days at the Old Court House Kuching and Padang Merdeka Kuching here.
Organised by The Generations, there were two programmes of the event, Street Fashion Shows as well as the Food Sales programme which highlighted Sarawak’s young talents and entrepreneurial products.
The minister revealed that the event has attracted more than 8,000 visitors within the two-day event.
Such an event was supported by the Sarawak Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), UNESCO Kuching City of Gastronomy, Cultural Heritage Arts Society Sarawak (CHASS), and Rotary Club Urban Kuching.
