Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) in a statement announced the inception of Export Promotion Programmes Coordination Committee or Jawatankuasa Koordinasi Program Promosi Eksport (JK-Eksport) as a measure to streamline all export promotion activities for the country by all Government ministries and agencies.

The Committee, with Ministry of International Trade and Industry as its secretariat, aims to create a better synergy among the relevant Government ministries and agencies and is an embodiment of the Government’s efforts to optimise the impact of export promotion initiatives for the country.

The first JK-Eksport meeting took place today and was chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government, YBhg. Datuk Seri Ismail Bakar. The meeting took place at Menara MATRADE and was attended by 23 ministries and 16 agencies such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Malaysian Green Technology Corporation, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation and the Construction Industry Development Board, among many others.

The establishment of JK-Eksport was prompted by the need to have a more streamlined and coordinated efforts in promoting exports. This is pivotal in ensuring the optimal use of resources including budget and assistance by Malaysia Government’s overseas offices.

JK-Eksport functions to review and approve all export promotion programme proposals from ministries and agencies. The approval of the programmes will be given based on products or services relevance to target markets, programme relevance to domestic capabilities as well as budget optimisation for better returns on investment. Additionally, the JK-Eksport will be a platform for data gathering and information sharing particularly on market intelligence. This will help to generate ideas and foster greater synergy among ministries and agencies.

According to MATRADE’s Chief Executive Officer YBhg. Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa, although MATRADE is the national trade promotion organisation, there are other ministries and
agencies that are either actively promoting Malaysian products or services abroad or have the capacity and resources to support this effort. He said, “In order to ensure that there is no duplication of efforts, we will coordinate all export promotion efforts more efficiently so that there will be no wastage of resources. A central coordination committee such as JK-Eksport is highly needed to oversee all programmes implementation.”

“This will motivate all ministries and agencies to plan their export promotion programmes early and will ensure the efforts are in line with the country’s overall export strategy. All the ministries and agencies involved must make full use of this committee, so that we may be more cohesive and thereby more effective” Dato’ Wan Latiff added.

The JK-Eksport, the coordination and approval committee for all Malaysia’s export promotion programmes, convenes two times a year. The second meeting for this year is tentatively scheduled for July or August.