SUNDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2019, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) urges Malaysian Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as Mid-Tier companies to fully leverage on the perks announced in Belanjawan 2020 by incorporating export plan in their business strategy or enhancing their readily-available export plan for 2020 and beyond.

In the Belanjawan 2020 announcement on Friday, Malaysian companies will enjoy more benefits from MATRADE’s Market Development Grant (MDG) and export promotion efforts following the increment of the claim ceiling per company for the MDG, from the current RM200,000 to RM300,000. The ceiling for the participation in international trade fairs will also be revised upwards from RM15,000 to RM25,000. In addition, the Government will allocate RM50 million to encourage SMEs to engage in more export promotion activities.

According to MATRADE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa the move is a strong indication of the Government’s aspiration to develop more global champions among Malaysian exporters. “MATRADE is optimistic that the allocation will be a catalyst to facilitate the access of local companies to not only markets such as ASEAN, China and United States of America but to emerging markets too, such as Central and South Asia, West Asia, Africa and Latin America. This is indeed a great news for Malaysia’s export community and MATRADE will be the engine to mobilise its resources in helping Malaysian companies realise their export sales,” he said.

Moving into 2020, MATRADE will focus its export promotion activities on emerging high-value sectors such as aerospace, automotive, medical devices, halal, creative content, eCommerce and services, among others. “It is imperative for us to expand Malaysia’s export capabilities in more areas other than conventional sectors like Food & Beverages or Furniture. Promotion in these sectors will be continued still, but will be centred around more niche areas such as manufacturing services and design engineering. This is in line with our strategy to diversify Malaysia’s top exported products too,” Wan Latiff shared.

The trade promotion organisation will also be championing the growth of Malaysian exporters in sustainable practices and responsible business. “We need to develop a pool of exporters who are sustainable and responsible to respond to the growing global demands in these areas. This move will also re-position Malaysia’s branding as a source of sustainable products and services.

“To kickstart our efforts towards transforming Malaysia into a sustainable trading nation we have recently launched a 5-year Corporate Shared Values campaign called Sustainability Action Values for Exporters or SAVE. Through SAVE we aim to build the awareness on sustainability among exporters, help identify a sustainability benchmark suitable for Malaysian companies, matching sustainable businesses with buyers, provide recognition for sustainable exporters and to introduce a brand endorsement for sustainable products or services for export,” Wan Latiff shared.

Through various efforts in place, MATRADE hopes Malaysia’s trade will remain at RM1 trillion mark this year despite various economic headwinds globally. “Come 2020, we hope the players in both the Public and Private sector can form a stronger synergy to ensure Malaysia will continue to be one of the world’s most competitive nations in trade,” Wan Latiff added.

Malaysian companies who are keen to benefit for MATRADE’s Exporters Development and Export Promotion facilitation are urged to write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to any of its social media channel on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.