Discussions are underway to have more direct flights to Kuching, according to Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports YB Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
This is to address Sarawak’s limited air connectivity by making Kuching a hub to other cities, he explained in his speech before launching the Pre-Asia Pacific Orchid Conference (Pre-APOC) 2017 at Sarawak State Library, Kuching on 25 August 2017
He added that the State Government has successfully negotiated for a direct flight from Kuching to China through Shenzhen, while is working on reinstating the Kuching-Hong Kong direct flight, which was discontinued early this year.
Overall, he hoped to see more direct flights for easier connectivity by 2019, in time with the 13th Asia Pacific Orchid Conference, where Kuching will play host.
Pre-APOC 2017 itself was organised by DBKU at the Sarawak State Library from 24 to 27 August 2017 as a prelude to the aforementioned Asia Pacific Orchid Conference, which is held once every three years since 1984.
The one-day conference was one of various activities held in conjunction with the event that featured nine renowned experts presenting various topics regarding orchids and the orchid industry in the Asia Pacific region.
Delegates involved were from 12 countries within the Asia Pacific region, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
While viewed as a great platform for orchid lovers together with related investments, business and academic sectors in the orchid industry to network, as well as exchange business and academic ideas, Datuk Abdul Karim hoped that delegates would take the opportunity to explore Kuching.
He also believed that Pre-APOC 2017 as a whole would be able to boost both Sarawak’s tourism and agriculture sectors.
