Perbadanan Pembangunan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016, Kuala Lumpur: Capitalising on Guangdong province’s status as an export goldmine for Malaysian companies, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) will be coordinating the participation of 47 Malaysian companies to the 119th China Import and Export (Canton) Fair, Phase 3 (Spring Session) 2016 from 1 – 5 May 2016 in Guangzhou, China. This year marks Malaysia 10th participation at the biannual event.

The effort is to enhance the export performance of Malaysian companies in food, healthcare and household items industry targeting not only the China market, but also the markets around the world. In the last Autumn Session, the event had attracted more than 177,000 buyers from 213 countries with sales of nearly RM197 million generated.

The Malaysia Pavilion at Canton Fair will be exhibiting items ranging from food products, healthcare products and household items. Apart from the exhibition, MATRADE will also be coordinating one-on-one business meetings for the Malaysian exhibitors to meet with international and Chinese buyers. To date, more than 200 business meetings have been scheduled.

According to Mr. Ong Yew Chee, MATRADE’s Director of China Unit, the objective of MATRADE’s participation in the Canton Fair is an attempt to leverage on the strong presence of foreign buyers at the event and to utilise the event as a strategic platform to promote the image of Malaysia as a reliable source for high quality products and services.

"Guangdong Province is an important market, accounting for about one quarter of Malaysia’s trade with China in 2015. In the same year, Malaysia was Guangdong Province’s 5th largest trading partner, 5th largest export destination and the 5th largest source of imports. Thus, participation in the Canton Fair will definitely bear good results for Malaysian companies particularly SMEs to access the China market as well,” Mr. Ong said.

He added that the initiative is also one of the efforts by MATRADE to achieve the Malaysia-China trade target of USD160 billion by year 2017.

In 2015, Malaysia’s trade with Guangdong Province was valued at USD37.65 billion. Malaysia’s exports recorded a growth of 5.4 percent to reach USD17.93 billion in 2015 while imports from Guangdong were valued at USD19.72 billion (+3.4 percent). Between the period of January to February 2016, Malaysia’s trade with Guangdong was valued at USD4.3 billion while Malaysia’s exports were recorded at USD2.11 billion and imports at USD2.19 billion.

Over the years, since its introduction in 1957, Canton Fair has earned a status as one of the largest product-sourcing events in the world. Organised by the China Foreign Trade Centre (CFTC) and hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce and People’s Government of Guangdong Province, the renowned trade fair is the biggest exhibition in China offering wide range of product clusters namely Food and Agricultural Products, Medical, Health and Beauty Care Products as well as Gift and Decoration Products. It is held in Guangzhou every spring (April-May) as well as autumn (October-November) and has a long history of 59 years.

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian kids wear is on its way to venture into the global markets with the Little Me Showcase initiative by Ladiva Modeling. The event is supported by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).

The Little Me Showcase event, held in Menara MATRADE, is aimed at providing a platform for local entrepreneurs in the kids wear industry to develop strategic partnerships between their peers and government agencies namely MATRADE and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to enhance their potentials to go global that is via exporting.

The event was attended by MATRADE’s Lifestyle Director Mr. Abu Bakar Yusof, representatives from MARA as well as Dynas Mokhtar, a well-known celebrity, heavily involved in kids fashion wear. The collections of kids wear highlighted at the event are from various Malaysian brands namely Benua Clothing, Darwish Rich Design, GOSH Baby Shop, Guzel Couture, Muslim Flava, The Qaiema, DNA by Dynas, Little Me Cotton, Qeera Kids and Elle & Shyne.

According to MATRADE’s Lifestyle Director Mr. Abu Bakar Yusof, the showcase serves as a platform for Malaysian kids fashion brands to better understand the export potential in this industry. “With global kids wear market valued currently at approximately US$157 billion, we should push our local talents to venture abroad and tap on the opportunities in markets like Africa, Middle East, China and Europe. But it is also pivotal for the Malaysian brands to equip themselves with the marketing know-how. This is where MATRADE and MARA come into the picture,” he said.

In 2015, Textiles and Apparel industry was ranked 11th and accounted for 1.6 per cent share of Malaysia’s exports of manufactured goods. Exports of textiles and apparel & clothing amounted to RM12.6 billion in 2015 from RM11.6 billion in 2014, an increase of 8.7 per cent.

According to Ladiva Modelling Agency’s Director Ms. Kasmariani Apprianty, "We hope this showcase will connect the fashion designers in the kids wear industry and open more doors for them to work together in reaching out to the world.”

MATRADE hopes this initiative will kick start the local kids fashion wear brands’ export venture and as the country’s trade promotion agency, MATRADE urges the local fashion entrepreneurs to join MATRADE’s various capacity programmes such as Go-Ex, eTRADE and Bumiputera, Women and Youth Exporters Development Programme. “These programmes can help transform our local players into global champions,” said Abu Bakar.

For more information, Malaysian fashion brands can contact MATRADE via email at Alamat emel ini dilindungi dari Spambot. Anda perlu hidupkan JavaScript untuk melihatnya.. They are also encouraged to utilise MATRADE’s 46 international trade offices around the globe.

MATRADE'S INSP HELP MALAYSIAN COMPANIES REAP SALES REWARD AT SEMICON SOUTHEAST ASIA 2016

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation's (MATRADE) International Sourcing Programme (INSP) has proven to be an effective vehicle to create sales outcome for Malaysian exporters. The recent INSP held at SEMICON Southeast Asia in INSPICE Arena, Penang is a true embodiment of this notion.

The INSP, coordinated by MATRADE, has generated potential export sales of RM82.2 million for the participating Malaysian Electrical & Electronics (E&E) companies. The sales are currently being negotiated between Malaysian and their foreign counterparts. Held for the second consecutive year, 38 Malaysian E&E companies had participated in the event and the B2B event had also involved buyers from various nations namely China, Hungary, Republic of Korea, Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore.

Among the Malaysian products & services sourced at SEMICON were embedded products & services, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, flexible printed circuits, semiconductor parts, equipment & material, coaxial & fibre optic cables, LED lighting & solar solutions.

According to the Director of MATRADE's Electrical & Electronics and ICT Unit Mr Abu Bakar Koyakutty, the INSP was well accepted by the participating Malaysian companies with majority of the companies expressing their full satisfaction at the event. MATRADE's INSP is also a good platform for companies from various backgrounds to compare notes and exchange knowledge and skills related to the industry, - Abu Bakar said.

The INSP was previously known as Incoming Buying Mission. This high-impact initiative is a cost-effective effort aimed at assisting Malaysian companies in their global ventures.

In 2016, MATRADE has planned a total of 150 programmes, of which 85 are trade promotion activities and 65 are Exporters Development Programme. The INSP is consistently paired with all these programmes and serves as an effective tool for Malaysian manufacturers and professional service providers to promote their world-class products and services globally, and tap on export opportunities around the world.

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) will be organising a seminar on "Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Container Weight Verification Requirement" to generate a stronger awareness on SOLAS among Malaysian exporters. The seminar will take place on 26 May 2016 at Menara MATRADE in Kuala Lumpur.

This half-day seminar will be attended by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who are manufacturers and service providers that utilize sea freight services. The objectives of this seminar are; to update exporters on the Amendments to SOLAS that requires shippers to provide Verified Gross Mass (VGM) and the correct procedure to obtain VGM as well as to provide a platform for industry players to seek clarification on the implementation of SOLAS.

The new SOLAS regulation requires shippers whose name appears on the bill of lading to verify the gross mass of a container carrying cargo when tendering the container to the ocean carriers and terminals. Under the regulation, shippers are also required to register and declare the preferred method for packing containers with the Marine Department.

SOLAS which will take effect on July 1, 2016, will result in all shipping containers leaving any port in the world to be accompanied by a shipping document signed either electronically or in hard copy version by the shipper (on the bill of lading) listing the VGM of a container in order for the container to be loaded onto a ship.

The amendment to SOLAS regulation was introduced following a number of accidents that have resulted in maritime casualties over the years such as the breakup and subsequent beaching of the MSC Napoli on the southern UK coast in 2007 and the partial capsizing of a feeder ship in the Spanish port of Algeciras in June, 2015. This unfortunate series of events caused by overweight containers have prompted the international shipping community to take action in order to prevent future mishaps. Hence, the change is SOLAS.

Between January to March 2016, the total container throughout of Malaysian ports was 6.2 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), an increment of 6 per cent as compared to January to March 2015. The TEUs export containers showed a 1.3 per cent increase and registered 3.79 million TEUs in 2015, while import traffic rose to 3.62 million TEUs, up by 1.7 per cent. Container traffic at the 11 Malaysian major ports rose to 24.2 million TEUs -- an increase of 6.74 percent in 2015 compared to 22.7 million in 2014. Meanwhile, transhipment was up to 9.2 percent or 16.78 million TEUs in 2015.

According to 2014 Logistics Performance Index by the World bank, Malaysia was ranked 25th in the world for logistics efficiency, scoring much higher than neighbouring countries such as Thailand (35), Vietnam (48), Indonesia (53), India (54) and Philippines (57).

Malaysia has a strong dependence on sea freight, with 90 percent of the country’s freight traffic (on average) transported by sea. Malaysia’s sea freight sector is poised for substantial future growth, buoyed by strong freight demand in the ASEAN region, construction of new port facilities, higher technological adoption and multimodal transportation. To date, Malaysian logistics players have penetrated international market in countries in Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Shipping industry in Malaysia is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with, so much so, the industry is being recognised worldwide. In October 2017, Malaysia will be the host for International Federation of Forwarders Association (FIATA) World Congress 2017, which is proof to Malaysia’s strength in the logistics sector.

Malaysian companies keen to participate in the SOLAS Seminar are urged to register on www.matrade.gov.my or contact Mr. Hariri Othman (03-6207 7224) / Mr. Nazirul Iman (03-6207 7228) for more details.