Yearly Archives - 2012

Kota Kinabalu: A Twin City Memorandum between Kota Kinabalu City and Jiangmen City of Guangdong Province, China is expected to be sealed by the end of the Third World Youth Congress of Jiangmen 2012 here. The twinning of the two cities would symbolise the strengthening of friendship between Malaysia and China, said United Sabah Sze Yip Association President Datuk Susan Wong. Held for the first time outside China, the congress from June 1 to 3 would be hosted by the United Sabah Sze Yip Association at Magellan Sutera Harbour Resord here. The inaugural World Youth Congress of Jiangmen was held in Jiangmen, China itself in 2008, while Macau hosted the second edition in 2010 and this year Sabah had been given the honour to play host. The theme for the third edition of the congress is "Together in Sabah for a Brilliant Gathering". Wong, who is also the organising chairperson, told Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun this during a courtesy call recently. The courtesy call was also to officially extend an invitation to Masidi as the guest-of-honour at the congress dinner on June 3. Accompanying Wong during the courtesy call were Deputy Chairman Tham Kai Fung, Vice Chairman Peter Ma and members of the organising committee, Robert Chin Swee Ming, Lee Chee Hong and Wong Lee Chu. She hoped that with the strong support of Masidi, the World Jiangmen Youth Congress would make Sabah known to the world. Meanwhile, Masidi also hoped that with the role played by the organising chairperson and her committee, the participants of this congress will treasure memories of Sabah and would return to the State to visit its beautiful tourism destinations and make investments. About 1,200 youths from all over the world including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, America, Canada, England, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and home country Malaysia are expected to participate in the congress. Among the congress' programmes are Trade and Cultural Exhibition, Economic Forum, presentation of the 10 Outstanding Jiangmen Youth Awards and the handing over of flag ceremony to the next host country. Source : Borneo Post

Sabah is confident that it will achieve the target of 2.93 million in tourist arrivals this year despite facing various challenges, particularly the flight rationalisation exercise carried out by Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. Sabah state Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun said as air transportation was a critical factor in the development of Sabah's tourism sector, his ministry would further enhance their promotional efforts in markets that offer direct flight service to Sabah such as South Korea and China. "My ministry, through the Sabah Tourism Board, have also taken special measures via the Aviation Hub Strategy and identified five main regional airports that offer direct flights to Kota Kinabalu as the go-between airports, namely in Kuala Lumpur, Bandar Seri Begawan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea," he said when winding up his ministry's debate at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly here. Masidi also said with the absence of a direct flight between Tokyo and Kota Kinabalu, the STB has placed Hong Kong, Singapore dan Seoul as the alternative route to Kota Kinabalu. Through close cooperation with three main tourist agencies in Japan, namely H.I.S. Travel, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) and SMI Holidays, it expects to market Sabah in the Japanese market using the Cathay Pacific airline company. For the Australian market meanwhile, he said the STB had drafted a special promotional plan together with the Singapore Airlines and promoted the special flight packages to Singapore and Kota Kinabalu during a recent exhibition in Perth. Source: Bernama