KUCHING: The 1st Sarawak Design Conference and Expo 2019 will be held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on June 27 and 28 to create an awareness on the importance of design in the timber industry.
Naroden (centre), flanked by Dayang Nena at right and Hasnizam at the press conference.
The conference is jointly organised by Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. It will be held in conjunction with Sarawak Timber and SME Expo 2019 which will be held at the same venue.
Assistant Minister of E-Commerce and Assistant Minister of SME Development, Datuk Naroden Majais, said the objectives of the conference is to develop a framework of innovative products development, and enhance awareness on the roles of design in developing market-oriented products.
“It is also a venue for the exchange of design and encourages joint development among government agencies, industries (private sector including designers), and the academic world to identify issues regarding technology and design,” he told reporters to announce the event yesterday.
The keynote speakers at the two-day conference are Ian Howard Davies @ Iskandar Abdullah, Mohamad Haririri Abdullah and Musdi Shanat from Malaysia, and Davit Marpaung, Singgih Susilo Kartono and Budi Isdianto from Indonesia, who are all experts in design.
STIDC deputy general manager Dayang Nena Abang Bruce, meanwhile, said more than 100 participants have already registered for the conference.
She called on designers in the respective industry to attend the conference, which is free-of-charge.
Dayang Nena also said that STIDC has been working with Unimas since 2012 under the Kursi Pusaka programme to train Unimas students in design for a two-year training..
“With our on-going programmme with Unimas, we hope to produce 100 young designers by 2030, who will become a foundation for design in the timber industry,” she added.