The handicraft products from Sabah, especially those produced under the guidance of the Sabah Handicraft Centre, has penetrated the European market.
Deputy Director of Yayasan Sabah, Rosmawati Lasuki, said the penetration was made possible after an exhibition in Germany.
“With the help of the Handicraft Development Corp Malaysia, we received many orders from European countries for forest-based handicrafts such as ‘ribu ribu’,” Rosmawati told reporters today.
She said since its opening in 2012, the handicraft centre has trained about 15,000 people, mostly youths, under 4,000 programmes.
“The centre currently offers 12 types of handicrafts such as glass, batik, wood, rattan, ceramics and crystal.
“The quality and beauty of Sabah handicrafts are now equivalent to Kelantan’s and Terengganu’s,” Rosmawati said.
She said Yayasan Sabah would continue to train more women and rural youths to be involved in handicrafts and to produce more entrepreneurs in the field.
“Every ethnic group in Sabah has their own skilled craftsmen. We will help to improve the quality and artwork of the handicrafts so that it can be marketed,” she said.