KOTA KINABALU: BIGSABAH Sale 2026 will return to the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) from 30 October to 1 November 2026, featuring more than 600 booths and targeting over 100,000 visitors.
The details were announced today at the BIGSABAH Sale 2026 press conference by Datuk Dr. Hajah Rosmawati Haji Lasuki, Chief Executive Officer of SICC and Organising Chairperson of BIGSABAH Sale 2026.
Building on last year’s success, which attracted 80,615 visitors and featured 650 booths, this year’s event will bring together consumers, entrepreneurs, SMEs and established brands from Sabah and beyond, with a greater emphasis on business engagement and regional market access.
This year’s theme, “Across Markets, Beyond Borders,” reflects Sabah’s strategic position within East ASEAN and its close links with Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“Our ambition is not simply to attract a bigger crowd. Our ambition is to create greater value from the platform we have built. A successful exhibition should not be measured only by the number of people who walk through its doors, but also by the business it generates, the connections it facilitates and the opportunities that continue beyond the exhibition,” Rosmawati said.
While retaining its strong Business-to-Consumer (B2C) foundation, BIGSABAH Sale 2026 will place greater focus on Business-to-Business (B2B) engagement through business matching and trade-focused programmes. These will connect exhibitors with potential buyers, distributors, retailers, importers, investors and strategic partners.
“B2C gives businesses customers. B2B can give businesses markets. One meaningful business connection can sometimes be worth much more than three days of retail sales,” she said.
She also highlighted the contribution of exhibitions to Malaysia’s business events industry. According to the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), 194 business events involving 341,182 delegates in the first half of 2026 generated an estimated RM1.81 billion in economic impact.
The event is also expected to support Sabah’s tourism momentum. Sabah recorded 3.79 million visitor arrivals in 2025, a 20.8% increase year-on-year, and is targeting four million arrivals in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026, ahead of Visit Sabah 2027. As of August 2026, Sabah had recorded 2,556,823 arrivals, up 4.1%, including 1,100,546 international arrivals, up 6.9%.
“That is why the value of an exhibition should not only be measured by attendance. It should also be measured by conversion,” she said, noting that exhibitors and business delegations generate economic activity across accommodation, transport, food and beverage, and retail.
Visitors can look forward to programmes including the Big Bad Wolf Book Fair, AI Business Scale-Up Bootcamp, the 5th Edition of CULT – Car Culture Festival 2026, Agro Forum and Trade Connect, fashion shows, portrait photography, the Elite Presence Workshop, Royal & VVIP Protocol Workshop, Dining Etiquette Workshop, esports and talent competitions, among others.
Looking ahead, organisers aim to grow BIGSABAH Sale into a recognised trade and consumer marketplace in East ASEAN, drawing lessons from established exhibitions such as the Canton Fair.
“We want businesses to eventually say, ‘We need to be at BIGSABAH Sale because this is where we meet the market.’ Bigger must mean greater impact,” Rosmawati said.
For more information, visit bigsabahsales.my or follow the official BIGSABAH Sale and SICC social media channels.-BNN
