Page 7 - Malaysia Women In Export Directory

Malaysia Women In Export v
Industry Overview
EMPOWERING WOMEN IN EXPORT
Introduction
Encouraging women entrepreneurs
to export makes a good business
sense as they are valuable asset
to the country. Equipped with the
right knowledge and business
acumen, the way forward for them
is to master the export game plan
and all its requirements including
logistics, shipping, branding, sales
and marketing.
New Sector Focus
In the past, sectors typically identified
with women, either as entrepreneurs
or workers, are services activities
(education and nursing), light
manufacturing (textiles & clothing,
fashion, cosmetics, arts & handicrafts,
jewellery), and agro-processing (food
products, herbal-based products).
But in recent years the situation
has changed significantly. Many are
now spearheading businesses that
in the past were dominated by their
male counterparts. These include
heavy and technical sectors such as
construction and building materials,
precision metal, automotive parts
and components, electrical and
electronics, heavy equipment, oil
and gas, radar surveillance systems,
hydraulic systems and many others.
Increasingly, women entrepreneurs
have also been actively involved in
providing professional services such
as engineering and architecture, as
well as business support services
including logistics, ICT, laboratory
testing services, marketing and
consultancy.
Way Forward
The emerging role of women in the
export industry will assume an even
larger place in the economic sector
in years to come. Many started their
business interests on a modest scale
but with ample vision to grow them to
a level that could be considered ready
for export.
At the same time, sustainability and
competitiveness are two aspects of
the export performance that women
exporters will have to contend
with in the long term. Being in the
export business, adaptability to new
guidelines is crucially important.
These relate to quality control, large-
scale production to meet the demand,
appropriate packaging, branding,
public relations promotion, customer
relationship management and reliable
distribution networks. Successful
exporting is a business in itself.
alaysia Wo en In Exports