KUCHING, May 8 — The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), in collaboration with the Sarawak government, is in the process of elevating the city of Kuching to be recognised in the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the gastronomy category.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the main objective of UCCN, an initiative introduced by Unesco in 2004, was to foster innovation and creativity as a driver towards sustainable city development.

She said there were seven main categories of creative cities that had been outlined by Unesco, namely knowledge and literature, film, music, design, traditional crafts and arts, gastronomy and media arts.

According to Nancy, Malaysia’s intention to nominate Kuching as one of the creative cities is a pragmatic effort and will have a positive impact on local socio-economic development.

"It will also increase the visibility and positive image of both Malaysia and Sarawak, especially on the international stage.

"The diversity of heritage menus and ethnic-based dishes makes Kuching the top choice to be designated as a creative city in the gastronomy category while its rich biodiversity with various herbs can also be used as a food source,” she said in a statement, today.

Meanwhile, Nancy added that Motac has also agreed to allocate RM5 million to the Sarawak Cultural Village to upgrade its infrastructure. — Bernama