Tawau: A total of 50,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day Tawau International Cultural Festival (FKAT), which began at the Tawau Municipal Council (MPT) Square here today. Assistant Minister to the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan, said 30 local ethnic groups will also take part in the festival, joined by participants from Indonesia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FKAT, held since 2011, is not just a platform to celebrate the cultural heritage of ethnic groups in Tawau, but to improve community harmony and unity, including establishing good relations with the people from countries in the region. This year’s FKAT will also bring economic spillover for the population, in addition to enhancing Tawau as a culture-based tourism destination, Nizam told reporters today.

He added that this year’s FKAT’s theme highlights the cultural diversity in Tawau by focusing on elements of heroism, marriage, including food and handicrafts. Meanwhile, Nizam has instructed MPT, as the main sponsor of the FKAT, to submit an application to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) for the festival to become one of the country’s major tourism programmes.

Nizam emphasized the importance of upholding the FKAT as a national tourism product and urged the MPT to take immediate measures by writing to MOTAC to make the FKAT part of the events in the country’s tourism calendar. He noted that this was in line with efforts to invigorate the Visit Malaysia 2026 initiative.