Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

THURSDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2019, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) leverages on the connection with Osaka Business Partner City Council (BPC) to enhance trade relations with nine member cities of Osaka BPC and obtains insights on World Expo 2025 in Osaka by organising a roundtable meeting with business leaders from the member cities.

Osaka BPC is an initiative by Osaka City Government to promote partnership with other cities through its BPC programme through the formation of an economic network in the Asian-Pacific region in 1988.

With the theme “Moving Forward with Industry4WRD”, the member cities involved in this 31st edition of roundtable meeting included Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, Jakarta, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Melbourne, Hamburg and Osaka. During the session, the business leaders of these cities discussed the progress of Industry 4.0 in their respective home city.

The co-operation with BPC started when MATRADE signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Osaka City Government on 21 October 1994 to encourage mutual co-operations in trade promotion through its BPC programme. Since then, Osaka City and MATRADE have been conducting numerous exchange activities such as roundtable meetings, seminar, business meetings, networking reception, training and others.

In March this year, Osaka City had organised a BPC training programme where MATRADE officers were invited to take part. In addition, Osaka City had also selected a Malaysian company to participate in the “Hack Osaka” event, a global innovation conference. In September, Osaka City had also hosted five Malaysian companies for a B2B meeting session in Osaka in conjunction with Tokyo Game Show (TGS).

“This active synergy with the Osaka City is reflective of the close relationship between Malaysia and Japan. With the BPC, we have a vehicle to champion various collaborations between industry players in both countries while at the same time establishing more trade co-operations with the member cities of BPC,” said Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa, Chief Executive Officer of MATRADE.

“The BPC Roundtable Meeting will not only provide the avenue for Malaysia to exchange views and share information on Industry 4.0 with Japan but also to learn the development of Industry 4.0 from other cities. This can be a catalyst to various business collaborations. This effort is also to prepare Malaysian companies for World Expo 2025 that will be hosted by Osaka,” he added.

Complementing the meeting was a business matching session for Malaysian companies with four Japanese buyers who are keen to source for Industry 4.0 technology, Food and Medical Devices. In addition, Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) also hosted the delegation for a city tour as part of Visit Malaysia 2020 initiative.

Efforts such as the BPC Roundtable helps Malaysian companies to get first mover advantage in establishing contacts with high value buyers from Japan the likes of Panasonic, Suntory, Kaneka, Mizuno, Itochu Sharp Energy that are all based in Osaka.

MATRADE aims to continue intensifying promotion of Malaysia’s export in Osaka – known as a city for many Japanese Small and Medium Enterprises. With a total population of 8.82 million, accounting for approximately seven per cent of Japan’s total population of 126.3 million, there is a long list of successful companies originating from Osaka the likes of Panasonic, Suntory, Kaneka, Mizuno, Itochu and Sharp.

Malaysian companies keen to access Japan especially Osaka are urged to contact MATRADE Tokyo and MATRADE Osaka by emailing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more details on MATRADE’s facilitations for Malaysian companies visit www.matrade.gov.my.