GOOD NETWORKING AVENUE FOR SAR

from BERNAMA, The Malaysian National News Agency KUCHING, July 5 (Bernama) -- The One District, One Industry Showcase 2010 being held for the Sabah and Sarawak zone here, provides a good networking avenue for local entrepreneur, Suhaimi Razali, to expand his "Sarawak Laksa" paste venture.

With visitors from Peninsular Malaysia currently comprising the bulk of his customers, he is now eyeing the lucrative markets across the South China Sea for his unique Sarawak product, manufactured and distributed under the "Hj Manan" trademark.

"Unlike other brands, our product is instant and can be used very conveniently...that is our selling point," he told Bernama here today.

Various local products ranging from food, handicrafts and homestay tourism programmes are being exhibited and promoted at the three-day event, which ended yesterday.

Suhaimi and his wife cum business partner Zuriah Manan, started their small- scale venture, Ayuma Enterprise, 10 years ago producing 2,580 kg of the paste per month.

The paste, sold in packs of 200 grammes, are retailed for RM3 unit each and is supplied within Kuching, Sibu, Miri and other towns in the state.

During the fasting month and festivities, including Hari Raya and Gawai Dayak, the couple earned between RM20,000 and RM30,000 per month.

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Suhaimi, previously employed with the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation, is looking to expand his business premise at Jalan Sultan Tengah here with the RM40,000 worth of machinery he received from the Sarawak Agriculture Department last year.

Meanwhile, Henry Charles, who hails from Sabah, is upbeat about penetrating the markets in Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia and Brunei for his ginger-based products with the assistance of the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama).

As the proprietor of Pemborong Mangkab Enterprise, he works closely with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) to sought food technology and SIRIM for halal certification in order to add value to his products.

The products, ginger honey drink, ginger chilly sauce, candied ginger, sweet and sour ginger and ginger powder are processed at his factory at Tambunan, which has a monthly capacity of 300 kgs.

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Since starting the business in 2007, with a loan from the Tambunan Farmers Organisation and the Sabah Farmers Organisation Board, Charles established a RM35,000 workshop employing five workers and now sells his products widely in Sabah.

Another entrepreneur, Saptuyah Abang, who specialises in Sarawak layered- cake at her bakery, S.A Enterprise, in Bandar Baru, Semariang, near here, plans to promote her labour-intensive products through the Internet.

Better known as Kak Dara to her regular customers, her cakes have grown popular just by word of mouth with clients as far as Singapore, Brunei and Peninsular Malaysia.

She bakes an average of 30 intricately designed cakes daily, each weighing, three kgs.

"My most sought-after layered cake, Kek Antik, is chocolate flavoured and sold at RM35 for an 800 gramme cake," Choo shoes she said, adding that the cake would remain fresh up to six months if kept in a freezer and and three months if refrigerated.

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