SIBU: Sarawak should set up a pepper museum, said Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.

This would be another attraction for visitors, he said during the opening of Pepper Food Promotion at Tanahmas Hotel yesterday.

“I went to Taiwan a year ago and visited a Coffee Museum in Tai Chung. It surprised me because Taiwan does not produce coffee, yet they have the museum and they get more than a million visitors every year,” said Wong, who is also Minister of Urban Development and Tourism.

“I’d like to take the Coffee Museum as an example and suggest to the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) how the pepper museum can be done as we all understand that Sarawak was known for its pepper quality worldwide. This would generate income to the pepper industry itself and boast the tourism sector.”

Malaysia is the fifth largest producer of pepper in the world with approximately 20,000 tonnes. Sarawak is its major producer with 19,000 metric last year.

However, only 3,200 tonnes or 16.84 per cent are consumed locally.

Pepper usage is however not limited to flavourings or as food ingredients but also in value-added products such sweets, perfumes, sauces, crackers and more.

MPB Sibu manager, Catherine Umbit, in her welcoming speech disclosed that the promotion was aimed at increasing the awareness among the local community and the tourists on the diverse usage of peppers.

Apart from that, it is aimed to spur the consumption of pepper and expand the Sarawak pepper industry as a whole, said Catherine.

Themed ‘Promotion of Pepper Cuisine’, the one-month promotion from Aug 1 to 31 is a collaborative effort between Tanahmas Hotel and MPB.

The promotion was also to commemorate the 50th years of independence as well as to attract tourists during the current Visit Malaysia Year and is being held at Peppers Cafe in Tanahmas Hotel.

Among others who attended at the launching ceremony were the Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health Datuk Dr Soon Choon Tek, Sibu Resident Chai Moi Fong, and Tanahmas Hotel managing director Clarence Ting.