The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry plans to reopen the Tourism Malaysia offices in five states which have been functioning as tourist information centres since early 2017, minister Mohamaddin Ketapi said today.

He said the move was aimed at coordinating efforts and focusing on drawing tourists in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020.

He said the five states were Kelantan, Terengganu, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor.

"We see there is a need to reopen all five Tourism Malaysia offices which prior to this had their functions changed to tourist information centres, and detailed discussions are being done with the related state governments.

"The closures of the five Tourism Malaysia offices prior to this was done on the allegation of overlapping of duties and roles with state tourism agencies, but that did not occur," he told reporters after launching the 2019 Malacca Craft Festival.

The five-day festival from today was participated by 63 craft entrepreneurs from various fields including textile, jungle produce, soil and metal.

Commenting further, Mohamaddin said the ministry was also carrying out numerous promotions in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020 abroad, including London and Berlin.

Meanwhile, he said the national handicraft industry recorded a sale of RM506.5 million last year through the sale of local handicraft products.

‘’We are also targeting a sale of RM500 million in handicraft this year and focusing on quality products,’’ he said.

Earlier, he also launched a Batik Malaysia design competition in conjunction with the 2020 Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) conference, which begins today and ends on May 24.

He said the competition, which received the cooperation of the International Trade and Industry Ministry, was open to all Malaysians aged 18 years upwards, whether individuals or groups.

- Bernama