By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 31: Sarawak has officially received the hosting rights for the International Council on Archives (ICA) Conference 2027, marking a historic first for Sarawak as the host destination.
The ICA Conference 2027 will be held from November 1 to 5, 2027, at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), and is expected to gather more than 1,000 delegates from around the world, including representatives from government agencies, archival institutions, associations, policymakers, and academia.
The official handover ceremony took place today in Barcelona, Spain, during the closing of the ICA Congress 2025, where Sarawak’s Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP), Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, formally received the hosting rights on behalf of Sarawak.
“ICA’s mission is about carrying legacies forward, and as the legacy capital of business events in Malaysia and Borneo, Sarawak is proud to carry the torch for 2027.
“We hope this conference will open new opportunities to develop more national and local collaborations on archives, so that the legacies we preserve today continue to inspire generations to come,” said Abdul Karim during the handover ceremony.
The prestigious international event will be co-organised by the Sarawak State Library, the National Archives of Malaysia, and ICA.
Malaysia’s successful bid to host the conference in Kuching, initiated in 2024, was the result of a strong multi-agency collaboration led by the Sarawak State Library and the National Archives of Malaysia, with the firm backing of both federal and Sarawak government agencies and universities, namely:
- Office of the Premier of Sarawak
- Ministry of National Unity, Malaysia
- Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak
- Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak)
- Sarawak Tourism Board
- Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB)
- Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak Branch
- Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
- University of Technology Sarawak (UTS)
- Sabah State Archives
This will mark the second time Malaysia has hosted an ICA event and the first time for Sarawak.
The ICA 2027 Conference is set to highlight Sarawak’s commitment to heritage preservation, cultural diversity, and digital transformation, in line with the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
“We are proud of the strong teamwork between federal and state partners that made ICA 2027 possible in Sarawak. It’s a privilege to be part of ICA’s legacy, and we hope it will inspire national and local archive professionals to create enduring legacies for the community and country,” said BESarawak Chief Executive Officer Amelia Roziman, who was also present at the ceremony.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of National Unity, Dato’ Haslina Abdul Hamid, who was also present, said that her ministry is dedicated to integrating the ICA Conference 2027 into the national vision, ensuring that the platform highlights Malaysia’s rich and diverse heritage while strengthening the country’s cultural and historical ties with the global archival community.
“In Malaysia, the importance of preserving our heritage, documents, stories, and digital records is an act of national unity,” she said.
ICA is the leading global organisation dedicated to advancing archival and records management. Every four years, the ICA Congress gathers thousands of professionals for a robust programme of workshops, sessions, and keynotes.
In alternate years, the ICA hosts its biennial conference focusing on current challenges and innovations in archival science, with its enduring legacy to safeguard humanity’s memory, built upon continuity, trust, and connection. —DayakDaily
