Great time at official launching of the 22nd Latin American Film Festival in Kuching City

We had a delightful time at the opening day screening of the 22nd Latin American Film Festival in Kuching City which was held recently at GSC City One Mall of Jalan Tun Jugah, Kuching. The exciting film festival had been held annually in West Malaysia and this is the first time the organisers had decided to have it in Sarawak. 

It was an honour for me to have met the various ambassadors from Latin America to Malaysia who are also here in Kuching for the official launching of their film festival here. The ambassadors are from Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru as well as the Charge d’Affaires of Uruguay. They include His Excellency Mr Florentino Batista Gonzalez from the Cuban embassy; His Excellency Mr Ricardo Morote Canales; His Excellency Mr Alejandro Rosselli Londoño from the Colombian embassy; His Excellency Mr Luis Javier Campuzano Piña from the Mexican embassy and Ms Lourdes Mariela Machado Gonzalez, the Charge d’Affaires at the Uruguayan embassy in Malaysia.

I am very happy that Latin American countries have considered Kuching for this event. This is an opportunity for us to foster cultural exchange, and I hope this won’t be the first and last time. Organising the festival could attract a local audience eager to learn more about Latin American culture through their films. I had thanked them for having invited me to grace the opening ceremony. I have mentioned in my speech on the potential for collaboration on tourism aspects between Latin American countries and Malaysia especially Sarawak.

I have also suggested for the travel agencies and airlines to consider include Latin American countries as tourist destinations, as these countries hold untapped potential for Malaysian travellers and vice versa. I have noticed Malaysian tourists rarely visit Latin America due to lack of packages offered among travel agencies which may not placed enough effort into promoting that region.

Despite not having enough long-haul flights posing a challenge for travel between these two parts of the world – possibly exceeding more than 24 hours in some cases  the experiences in countries like Uruguay, Peru, and Colombia will make the journey worthwhile. It is a fact that most Sarawakians will go to Europe, China, Korea, Japan, Turkey, or Australia but I have not seen many that go to Latin American countries. I think both sides have to make the effort for the benefits of both parties especially the people.