Perbadanan Pembangunan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2021 KUALA LUMPUR: MATRADE continues its agenda to empower Malaysian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on digitalisation towards reinforcing their competitiveness as export champions.

The benchmarking element has been incorporated in the existing customised exporters development programme, where an exclusive coaching session is spearheaded by the previous participants of Mid-Tier Companies Development Programme (MTCDP).

Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Exporters Development) of MATRADE, Abu Bakar Yusof said, “This benchmarking programme is an interactive platform on sharing knowledge between Mid-Tier Company (MTC) with MSMEs. The programme will not only serve as guidance for the enterprises to enhance their global competitiveness, but also to pave the way for closer relations between MSMEs and MTCs.”

This programme aims to guide the MSMEs on the best practices and efficient methods to adopt digitalisation in their business processes, so that they will be ready to tap into the global supply chain and strengthen their global footprints. This value-added feature on exporters development is a journey to groom more export champions in the near future.

Since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, digitalisation has become one of the important elements in global competitiveness for the MSMEs and MTCs. The pandemic has accelerated the need for everyone to embrace and adopt digitalisation in various aspects. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) through its implementing agency MATRADE has come out with numerous initiatives to ensure business continuity for Malaysian companies and exporters. These include virtual business meetings or known as eBizMatch, virtual National Export Day, virtual MIHAS exhibition, virtual export acceleration and market immersion missions as well as the iconic cross border e-commerce, eTrade Programme.

In 2020, under the MTCDP, a tailored Digital Marketing Module for MTCs was introduced. This pilot project was aiming to support MTCs’ transformation in embracing digitalisation and provide relevant information in structuring and implementing effective online marketing campaigns. 10 selected MTCs were involved with series of customised trainings. To date, MTCs have successfully launched their digital marketing campaigns via e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.

“This proves that MATRADE supports the agenda of digitalisation to elevate Malaysian businesses. This is also in line with the MyDigital initiative under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint that complements the national development policies such as the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12-MP) and the Vision for Share Prosperity 2030 (WKB 2030),” he added.

In line with the 12^th Malaysia Plan, MATRADE will strive to create more export champions, supporting the ongoing efforts by the Government in regenerating Malaysian economy, driving the growth of new sectors while striking the balance to ensure the socio-economic inclusiveness and sustainability.

MATRADE has successfully groomed 275 MTCs through MTCDP since the programme started in 2014. It is one of the Government’s high impact initiatives in the Malaysia’s Development Plan. In 2020, companies under MTCDP reported exports’ revenue of RM15.38 billion, an increase of 3.6% compared with the year before.

The MTCDP targets export-oriented MTCs with annual revenues between RM50 million to RM500 million for manufacturing companies and RM20 million to RM500 million for services companies. Interested companies are encouraged to contact Alamat emel ini dilindungi dari Spambot. Anda perlu hidupkan JavaScript untuk melihatnya. for more details.

FRIDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2021, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), helped create export opportunities for Malaysian Machinery & Equipment (M&E) companies by organising a virtual Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) on M&E sector to Germany.  The mission took place from 18 to 22 October 2021, participated by 18 Malaysian M&E companies and generated potential export sales of around RM55 million.

MATRADE organised the mission in collaboration with the German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME).  This is part of MATRADE’s continuous collaboration with BME to position Malaysian M&E companies in the German supply chain.

Among the M&E products promoted to the German buyers at the mission included automation engineering parts, die-casting components, metal stamping machine parts, milling & turning parts, assembly for ventilation system, wire harness and strapping machine, jigs and fixtures, injection moulding precision tools and components used for various sectors such as automotive, medical devices, consumables, industrial applications, consumer electronics, office automation, home appliances as well as aerospace.

The objectives of the mission were to promote Malaysian M&E related products and services as well as to position Malaysia as major hub for M&E sector in the South East Asia region. The mission’s programmes comprised a webinar entitled “Unlocking Opportunities for Export Growth - Procurement Requirements of German Companies” and a series of pre-arranged virtual business meetings (eBizMatch) between the Malaysian companies and German buyers.

“Malaysia has been a choice destination by multinational companies to outsource their manufacturing processes and automation solutions in the South East Asia or ASEAN region, due mainly to availability of high skill manpower in supporting industries, R&D and engineering design activities.  Following the supply chain diversification, German companies are looking for machinery parts, components and automation solutions to support their industrial engineering, product design and technology development as well as business operations across the globe”, said Madam Sharimahton Mat Saleh, MATRADE’s Deputy Chief Executive (Export Acceleration) at the opening of the virtual mission.

Mr. Olaf Holzgrefe, Head of International Business Development & Affairs, BME said that in these challenging times with COVID-19 and the current supply-chain challenges, supplier sourcing programmes alike to what we are organising today in collaboration with MATRADE, will assist both German and Malaysian companies to establish new business partnerships. After the successful pilot programme in 2020, we are looking forward in creating new business linkages between Germany and Malaysia again.

According to Mr. Naim Abdul Rahman, Director of E&E, ICT, Machinery & Equipment Section, MATRADE, M&E is an important sector to Malaysia due to its extensive linkages to other economic sectors.  Malaysia’s capabilities in the M&E sector are noticeable in several areas such as in the Specialised M&E for specific industries like E&E, O&G and other industries; General Industry M&E like heating & cooling equipment, material handling equipment, pumps, compressors and storage tanks; Power Generating M&E like industrial boilers and power generating sets, as well as Machine Tools and Metalworking Machinery.

Malaysia has developed capable home-grown companies not only in the manufacturing and processing of precision machining parts, but also in the system assembly and integration in all the segments within M&E, added Mr. Naim.

Malaysian M&E players that participated in the mission include Tonasco, Swift Bridge Technologies, Professional Tools & Dies, SP Teams, Newbillion Precision Metal and H.H Precision Mould. 

Germany is an important market for Malaysia’s M&E exports.  Germany was the largest export market in Europe, with value of US$248.81 million, and share of 2.6 of the total M&E exports in 2020. Germany remained as Malaysia’s largest trading partner within the EU region, while Malaysia maintained its position as the largest trading partner among ASEAN countries for Germany.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021 KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) is taking the halal agenda globally during the World Expo 2020 by focusing on bringing together businesses to capture business-to-business (B2B) opportunities, as well as seeking government-to-government (G2G) cooperation.

We know that other countries are also looking to collaborate with Malaysia in order to strengthen the global halal ecosystem as the global halal industry presents a huge opportunity with the market now valued at US$3.1 trillion.  Malaysia remained a major global leader in the Halal economy, sustaining its top position in the Global Islamic Economic Indicators (GIEI) for eight consecutive years. This is a promising indicator of recovery for Malaysia's Halal export performance, in line with the country's outstanding trade performance that we have seen in the first nine months of 2021; said Madam Sharimahton, Deputy CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, who will lead a trade delegation from 14 to 20 November 2021 comprising of halal food and beverages suppliers, logistics and ICT service providers to Dubai, UAE in conjunction with the Expo 2020.

As the national trade promotion organisation of Malaysia, MATRADE is leading the Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) on Halal Digital Ecosystem from 14 to 20 November 2021 to forge lasting partnership at the Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE. With the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, the World Expo 2020 in Dubai will be an excellent platform for the Malaysian exporters to connect with global community boosting Malaysias leadership in halal global trade and economy. 

 Collaboration with UAE

Malaysia recognises the fact that the UAE has also established itself as a regional hub for halal products and services. The collaboration will include knowledge sharing, capacity-building and business matching to create a vibrant and sustainable business landscape for the Muslim-friendly consumer segment using Dubai’s extensive regional trade network.

She stressed that countries must move together as they play a major role in terms of promoting the halal agenda globally. Cooperative competition will eventually benefit us, but most importantly, we have to find ways to work together and achieve mutual recognition to develop more business opportunities, she said.

Engine of Economic Growth

 The world has recognized the halal industry as the new engine of economic growth. It can be seen from the increase of halal products in many countries which is not limited only to Muslim majority countries. Indeed, halal is not perceived as a mere label by its users. The values underlying halal such as quality assurance, enhancement of social wellbeing, protection of the environment and ethics of business conduct resonate with people across religion and cultural boundaries. 

The Halal sector is not limited to food and beverages only but also includes cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals and services such as logistics and e-commerce ecosystem. Many countries have recognised the opportunities in the halal industry and are now racing to be the top halal providers. It is also an effort to cope with market demand that has gradually increased in recent years.

Digitalisation in Halal

The digitalisation agenda for Malaysia's Halal industry, was spearheaded through the introduction of its first virtual edition of the 17th Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) which continues to open from 9th September until 31st December 2021 with the theme “Empowering Halal, Tomorrow, Together. The first virtual edition of MIHAS was positioned to take centre stage of global halal trade after its absence for over 2 years since April 2019, in addition of reinforcing the nation's economic recovery phase by creating market opportunities for Halal players in Malaysia especially the SMEs. The virtual edition of MIHAS has reached a global audience with more than 14,000 visitors and 55% international exhibitors from 43 countries and generated more than RM2 billion (USD480 million) of export sales as at the end of October.  Following the success of MIHAS, this Export Acceleration Mission on Halal Digital Ecosystem to Dubai at the World Expo 2020 continues to drive the momentum and visibility of Malaysia's halal products and services to reach global consumers in tandem with the positive direction of the global economy as it bounces back from the pandemic.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS: In endeavour to promote Malaysia’s products globally during this pandemic, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), the Commercial Section of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Netherlands, had successfully conducted an online promotion programme, “Flavours of Malaysia” in collaboration with Wah Nam Hong (WNH), one of the leading Asian supermarkets in the Netherlands. The one-month programme, which kicked off on Malaysia Day, 16 September 2021, aimed to increase market awareness about Malaysian food and beverages (F&B) and to strengthen Malaysia’s brand presence in the local F&B segment.

In the main landing page of Wah Nam Hong’s web-shop, various Malaysian brands were featured ranging from paste & sauces, snacks, biscuits, coffee mix, curry spices, instant noodles to ready to eat meals. Pre-recorded cooking demonstrations featuring Malaysian authentic cuisines such as char kway teow, rendang, chicken curry and Malaysian grilled fish were also made available online. In an effort to make home cooking simple and easy as well to drive customers interest on value-for-money purchases, a special promotion on ‘Malaysian Food Boxes’ were made available in the website whereby consumers may purchase pre-selected combined food ingredients such as paste, spices, noodles and sauces in a combo package.

Aside from that, WNH also organised 2 days live-cooking demonstrations within two consecutive weekends in their main outlet in Westfield Mall of the Netherlands to allow Dutch consumers to experience Malaysia’s F&B. To complement this promotional effort, MATRADE had also engaged a famous Youtuber Chef in the Netherlands to share videos of a few culinary tips on Malaysian recipes. His videos created an internet sensation for food lovers and this has helped hyping traffic purchases in WNH stores.  

According to Trade Commissioner of MATRADE Rotterdam, Emeliana Zainol, “With the current pandemic situation, sales via online platform have been growing at a double-digit rate. It is important to reach out consumers in the Netherlands via online platform, as more than 80% of Dutch consumers used e-commerce to purchase goods last year, especially during the pandemic. The situation has also created a cooking-at-home trend, as eating at home has become a norm and perceived to be a healthier choice”.

She added “Increasing consumer awareness on nutrition to boost immune system as people look for safer way to improve general health and living has created a demand for functional food and organic food, not only in the Netherlands, but in Europe at large. Therefore, Malaysian F&B exporters are also encouraged to focus on these emerging food trends”.

In 2020, The Netherlands remained as Malaysia’s second largest trading partner in Europe, with total trade amounted to RM27.85 billion. Our exports to the Netherlands grew by 28.4% in the first nine months of 2021 despite the pandemic that affected world trade globally. Moving forward, MATRADE will continue to embark on various promotional activities, enriching Malaysian companies’ exports in the global market.