Kota Kinabalu: Sabah International Expo 2010 (SIE2010), also dubbed Sabah’s Premier Trade Fair, will be held at 1Borneo Hypermall here, from Oct 15-19.
SIE2010, with its theme Sabah-Hub For The Far East, aims to woo and ignite commercial and economic interest to come Sabah – home to rich flora and fauna, marine life, and abundant natural resources.
Being proximity to the region’s economic powerhouse (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia), social and political stability, the 60-million strong consumer market within the BIMP-EAGA region are excellent attributes for positioning Sabah as the ideal trading hub in the South East Asia region.
A one-day international business conference would also be held on the October 15 with the theme “Growing Money from Trees” which mirrors the Sabah State Government’s forest conservation effort.
About 400 participants, both international and local from public as well as private sectors are expected to join the conference.
Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman is scheduled to give his opening and keynote address and would also be presenting his paper entitled “Conserving the Environment through Sustainable Forest Management: The Sabah Experience”.
Among the international participants in the Expo are from Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Spain, China, Japan, Germany, Poland, Australia, Slovakia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Switzerland and Ireland.
SIE2010 organising chairman Datuk Wong Khen Thau pointed that the 5-day event will attract more than 50,000 eager visitors and spur the domestic economy immensely.
He revealed that SIE recorded a surge in terms of total number of exhibitors at 285 Malaysian exhibitors and 96 International exhibitors in 2008 compared to the averages maintained of 80 Malaysian exhibitors and 40 International exhibitors since the first SIE in 2000.
“Total number of visitors also soared to 15,000 (trade visitors) and 35,053 (general public) compared to the average of 9,000 and 25,000 respectively, thus earning SIE 2008 a reputation as the most visited expo in Sabah.”
As for sales figure, SIE2008 skyrocketed to RM149,797,750, an astonishing leap for the organisers used to an average of a meagre RM15,000,000.
“Local and foreign business people are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these potentials, Whether looking to promote your company or product and services, expand and penetrate new market, conduct market survey, benchmarking and establish networks among another É SIE 2010 and the conference are the right platform.
“Sabah business people should capitalise and tap on the vast opportunities especially with the implementation of the Asean Free Trade Agreements, and more in the pipeline and not view it as a threat to domestic market domination,” Wong added. – Dailyexpress
