Sarawak Economic Development Corporation

The Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) five-year plan to upgrade its flagship tourism properties to keep in step with the changing times and new market trends, is expected to start early next year, its chairman Datuk Talib Zulpilip said on Sunday.

He said the SEDC's upgrading plan included the refurbishment of the kilometre-long Kuching Waterfront, hotels, namely the Holiday Inn Kuching and the Crowne Plaza Riverside Kuching as well as the Sarawak Cultural Village and Top Spot Food Court here.

 "The exercise will take a few months to complete. The budget has been approved and sourced from our own internal funds," he told reporters after the reopening of the Sarawak Plaza shopping complex here by Kuching Hotels Sdn Bhd chairman, Tan Sri Bujang Mohd Nor.

 Located in the city's central business district at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman here, Talib said RM3 million was spent on the refurbishment of the complex but the SEDC would maintain the current rental rates to assist the 41 tenants face the current economic downturn.

First opened for business in November 1985, the Sarawak Plaza, which remains one of the premier shopping complexes here, is owned by Kuching Hotels, a subsidiary of the SEDC.
The Kuching Waterfront project was opened in 1993 and is regarded as one of the best examples of urban regeneration and rehabilitation in Asia with old shophouses and international-class hotels sprouting within 500 metre radius of it.

The New Straits Times Online
22/12/2008