Abang Johari (third left) cuts the ribbon to reveal a banner and officially launches the congress. Also seen are Dr Jamilah (second left), Dr Sim (second right) and Dr Ng (third right).
KUCHING: If Sarawak’s dental healthcare industry wants to grow, it has to look at other markets outside Sarawak, much like the general healthcare services and the food sector.
Giving this advice, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg pointed out that three million Sarawakians can only eat so much but three billion people in the whole Asia can eat much, much more.
“If we can explore and capture the markets outside Sarawak, of course you will have more than six million sets of teeth to care for.
“I think that it is not impossible to achieve if our dental services can build its reputation in order to convince the market much like our healthcare services,” he said this at the 8th Borneo Dental Congress and Trade Exhibition cum 9th Malaysian Dental Association Eastern Zone (MDAEZ) Annual General Meeting at a leading hotel here today.
However, Abang Johari also acknowledged that wider connectivity of both air and land was vital for Sarawak to reach out to the potential markets.
“The industry could be bigger if there is an easy access, by air or overland, to tap the market potentials in other big towns in Kalimantan like Balikpapan and Samarinda, and even to other towns outside Kalimantan,” he stressed.
Besides road connectivity, he said Sarawak needs wider air connectivity with other places outside Sarawak.
“As such, we welcome ideas of turning Kuching into a low-cost air carrier hub so that we can connect Kuching and Sarawak with other important cities in the region.
“After all, Indonesians in Sumatera are willing to fly to places like Penang and Malacca to get quality healthcare services in these places. I don’t see much reason why those in Kalimantan cannot fly to Kuching to get quality dental healthcare if we can make it available for them,” he emphasised.
The Borneo Dental Congress is an annual event organised by MDAEZ. The event had a total of 434 attendance including 217 dental specialists and dentists and 123 dental supporting staff.
State Health director Dr Jamilah Hashim, deputy state health director for oral health Dr Yaw Siew Lian, Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) president Dr Ng Woan Tyng as well as MDA Eastern Zone chairman and organising chairman Dr Sim Wen Sann were present.