By Christine T
KUCHING, Oct 15: Sarawak’s Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts is overseeing 33 infrastructure projects worth a combined RM486.39 million, as the State continues to invest in tourism development.
Deputy Minister Datuk Sebastian Ting said tourist arrivals rose by 2.9 per cent, from 4.83 million in 2024 to 4.97 million in 2025, while tourism receipts increased by 1.8 per cent from RM12.45 billion to RM12.67 billion over the same period.
However, he said the growth reflected the combined impact of sustained investment in tourism infrastructure, destination development, improved connectivity, promotional efforts and collaboration with industry stakeholders, rather than any single project.
“These positive outcomes cannot be attributed to any single tourism infrastructure project,” he said when replying to a question from Serembu assemblyman Dato Miro Simuh at the State Legislative Assembly sitting today.
Miro had asked how the ministry prioritised tourism infrastructure projects and measured their impact on tourist arrivals, visitor spending and local employment.
Ting said projects proposed were assessed based on their alignment with Sarawak’s development agenda, socio-economic impact, value for money, tourism growth potential, sustainability and implementation readiness.
The ministry also evaluated proposals based on their potential contributions to the targets under the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030).
These include increasing tourism’s contribution to 11 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), creating tourism-related employment equivalent to 25 per cent, achieving annual visitor arrival growth of 7.5 per cent and expanding community-based tourism participation by 30 per cent. Other targets include strengthening arts, culture and heritage tourism, as well as increasing cross-sales from RM23 million to RM40 million.
Responding to Miro’s supplementary question on the project evaluation process before funding approval, Ting said the Sarawak government used the Value at Entry (VAE) exercise to assess project viability and implementation readiness.
The process required four key documents: the project background, Creativity Index and logical framework matrix, acquisition categorisation, and Gerbang Nilai 0 checklist.
He said these documents provided a quantitative basis for assessing proposals, while interagency engagement sessions were also required to gather stakeholder input and account for associated costs.
Of the 33 projects, 21 are State-funded, with an allocation of RM408.382 million, while one Projek Rakyat project is worth RM52 million and 11 federal-funded projects are worth RM26.01 million.
The projects are being implemented by agencies including the Public Works Department (JKR), Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA), Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and local councils. – DayakDaily
