Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor at the Flower Festival held in the Agricultural Park at Sabah's interior Tenom district on Sunday (Sept 4).
TENOM: Sabah has the potential of developing its landscaping and floriculture industry to reduce import dependency while also helping the local economy, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said that the state imported 156.93 tons of fresh flowers with a value of RM4.9mil last year.
He said the development of the local landscaping and floriculture industry could help in reducing imports in the future as well as help increase the earnings of the local community.
"There is potential for the development of the landscape industry and local flowers or floriculture in this state; we can reduce import of fresh flowers in the future," he said when launching the 2022 Flower Festival at the Sabah Agricultural Park in this interior Sabah district on Sunday (Sept 4).
"The Flower Festival is certainly a platform for flower entrepreneurs and landscapers to share information and experience. They can workout 'business matching' to develop the floriculture industry in this state," he said.
He also hoped that the Flower Festival would foster greater public interest and love for flora and help towards improving landscaping for the benefit of the community.
The Chief Minister said the celebration of the Flower Festival at the Sabah Agricultural Park was also significant to attract more tourists to visit the interior of Sabah, especially in the Tenom district.
"This festival needs to be held every year and I want our community to understand the importance of plant species conservation as a source of food and a contributor to environmental sustainability," he added.
The Sabah Agricultural Park, as a biodiversity treasure storage centre, has more than 1,500 species of plants among which are orchids with as many as 350 species, forest ginger over 100 species and fruits.
Hajiji said the agriculture part also showcases food plants that are unique and only found in Sabah and could be an added attraction for tourists.
Since opening to the public on Oct 1, 2000, a total of 471,299 people have visited the park.
