Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018, KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), is collaborating with Yiwu Bureau of Commerce to organise a seminar titled Malaysia Buyer Service Centre in Yiwu – Your Link to China and Global Market. Held today at Menara MATRADE, the objective of this seminar is to introduce the Malaysia Buyer Service Centre in Yiwu, China, to Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The Malaysia Buyer Service Centre was established by the Yiwu Bureau of Commerce as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Centre aims to promote the import of Malaysian products and services.

Yiwu is well-known to be the world’s largest wholesale market with more than 500,000 foreign merchants sourcing for products every year and over 15,000 foreign buyers from more than 100 countries and regions reside in Yiwu. The place now is making efforts to be an import hub in line with the BRI. Yiwu exports products to more than 210 countries globally with daily export goods reaching over 800 containers. In 2018, Yiwu’s global export volume touched USD33.66 billion. These indicate a vast opportunity for Malaysian companies to make inroads into China.

According to Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa, MATRADE’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Yiwu serves as the entry point as it is well connected to other provinces in China. “It has a good connectivity to the Silk Road and the rest of the world and currently there is a rail link and highway connecting Yiwu to Europe through Central Asia,” he said.

The Malaysia Buyer Service Centre has also started its e-Commerce Portal known as the Malaysia-China e-Commerce Portal which will be a strategic platform to market Malaysian products and services to China and beyond.

In conjunction with the establishment of the Malaysia Buyer Service Centre, MATRADE in collaboration with the Yiwu Commerce Bureau will be launching a special Exports Acceleration Mission (EAM) to Yiwu from 11 to 13 November 2018. During the mission, one-to-one business meetings will be arranged for the Malaysian exporters to meet with Chinese and international buyers based in Yiwu. These meetings will provide greater linkages between Malaysian suppliers with the local business community in China and international buyers in Yiwu.

In 2017, Malaysia’s total trade with China was recorded at RM290.65 billion as compared to RM240.71 billion in 2016 - a growth of 20.7 per cent. Malaysia’s exports to China were valued at RM126.15 billion while imports recorded at RM164.50 billion. Trade with China for the first eight month of 2018 has expanded by 9.6 per cent to RM206.19 billion. Export grew by 11 per cent to RM89.31 billion, fuelled by Electrical & Electronics products, Chemicals and Chemical products, Manufactures of Metal as well as Optical and Scientific Equipment.