Capacity Development

Pusat Kraftangan Sabah (PKS) in Keningau, has become a landmark for the development of the handicraft industry in the State. The initiative is an ongoing commitment of the Group in developing the rural people of Sabah to a high-income economy, thus helping to reduce poverty in the State.

The main functions of PKS are to develop the State's ethnic handicraft heritage apart from being a centre of handicraft collection, training, R&D and marketing of handicrafts. PKS also act as a collaborator in the development and promotion of handicrafts at home and abroad as well as supporting the Federal Government's initiatives in realising the 'One Village One Product' concept. With the establishment of the RM30 million complex, new job opportunities and economic spillovers were created particularly in rural areas.

PKS is emphasising in three aspects of development, namely, Handicraft Management and Entrepreneurial Leadership, Craft Design and Machine Applications, and Arts Development.

The Group is also working with reputable handicraft household, and through such collaborations, youths are being exposed to gain the right knowledge in producing high-quality batik.

Since its establishment, PKS has built a strong platform in the market, making it a competitive brand. In 2014, PKS was awarded the Malaysia Good Design Mark by the Malaysia Design Council (an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation) which is the highest recognition for the quality of product design and manufacturing. Through its marketing arm, Kristal Handal Sdn. Bhd. (KHSB), PKS is the sole certified producer of batik in Sabah and was among the 51 batik entrepreneurs who received Batik Malaysia MS 692:2007 certification by the Malaysia Handicraft Development Corporation in November 2015 and the second certification was received in February 2018.

Yayasan Sabah Group and the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (TERAJU) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 9 September 2021, sealing a key milestone for B40 and M40 made in Sabah Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) product's footprint into the global markets.

The Global Processing One Stop Centre (GLOPEC), a robust platform established to manage and implement global expansion structure and trade marketing plans and promotions for Sabah SMEs to explore new business alliances in the worldwide market. The launching of GLOPEC marks a vital establishment of a platform for the SMEs made in Sabah products to enhance its network to the global market.

As of 2024, a total of 21,925 people benefitted from the handicraft programmes organised by the Group, through the Zone offices and PKS itself.

PKS marked another significant milestone with the opening of Galleria Artisan. This showroom and outlet which operates in Yayasan Sabah Headquarters Complex ventures into conventional and contemporary experiences in both craft and art. Launched on 9 May 2016, Galleria Artisan presents to the public, especially tourists, its unique and intricate products ranging from handicrafts to batik. PKS launched its first documented book on craft and art entitled, 'Sabah Crafts', in 2016. Galleria Artisan received the Fair Trade Tourism Select-an Accredited Outlet Certificate during the Kota Kinabalu City Hall's Fair Trade Tourism Select outlet (Handicraft and Craft category) Accreditation Recognition Ceremony held at Tun Hamdan Theatre, Menara Tun Mustapha on 6 February 2018 as a recognition to tourism-related small business premises which put into practice aspects of accountability and fairness in their trade.

On 24 March 2018 Pusat Kraftangan Sabah (PKS) paints a new record in the Malaysia Book of Records for the longest hand-painted batik. PKS collaborated with six schools namely SM St. Francis Xavier Keningau, SMK Gunsanad, SMK Gunsanad 2, SMJK Ken Hwa, SMK Keningau and Kolej Vokasional Keningau with Sabah Visual Arts Association, Kolej Teknologi Yayasan Sabah (KTYS) and University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF) in painting batik at 2,583.8 meter-long.

PKS through KHSB has established a handicraft marketing outlet, Galleria Artisan at Menara Tun Mustapha (MTM), Kota Kinabalu. These outlets provide the best platform for rural craft entrepreneurs with premium products to market their handicrafts. Before this, PKS and Kristal Handal Sdn. Bhd. has succeeded in raising many new handicraft entrepreneurs, and their end products are comparable to the long-standing entrepreneurs in the industry.

Meanwhile, the opening of another marketing outlet at the Sabah State Administrative Centre Menara Kinabalu provided economic spillover to over 100 handicraft entrepreneurs in marketing their products. The gallery area measuring 704.20 square metre showcases and sells handicraft products of former PKS handicraft trainees, artisan and paintings of local artists as well as allowing them to become Resident Artists at PPNS for two months at a time.

The outlets are divided into three main parts namely, handicraft parts (210 m²) which are categorised into various types of crafts according to types of materials such as rattan, bamboo, kelarai, serdang, pandanus, bark, beads, pearls and others. The second part is the batik area with a total area of 292.2 m², which houses two categories of women and men batik. The last area is a 185 m² showcasing fine art and 16 m² for displaying resident artist's paintings and also for painters to demonstrate their signature paintings and crafts.

Operating hours for the outlets are Monday to Friday, from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. If there is a request for an extension of time or a special visit, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Courses at Pusat Kraftangan Sabah

1. Textile (Cloth Weaving, Hand-painted Batik, Digital Textile Design, Tenunan and Sewing)
2. Forest-Based (Wood Sculpture, Furniture Making, Bamboo, Rattan and Ribu-Ribu Weaving)
3. Earthen-Based (Resin Epoxy)

Operating Hours