SATURDAY, 8th DECEMBER 2018, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) urges the Malaysian youth to make international trade their business key agenda so they could prepare themselves in steering the future growth of our economy. This is ever so relevant for Malaysia in sustaining its competitiveness globally after the announcement of Malaysia as the best country in the world to do business in 2018 by CEO World magazine and as the world’s best emerging market by Bloomberg.

In an effort to boost youth awareness in international trade, MATRADE organised the Youth Export Day (YED) 2018 at Menara MATRADE today. The event was attended by the Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Datuk Darell Leiking and Youth and Sports Minister, YB Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who both shared the stage to champion the call for youth to be global entrepreneurs.

The event featured activities such as a series of TED-like business talks with successful youth entrepreneurs, celebrity entrepreneurs sharing session, robotic and drone shows, e-sports activities (video games tournament), outdoor sports, sales carnival, fashion shows, graffiti and many more. Special appearances from social media celebrities also complemented the event. The celebrities engagement was aimed at expanding the outreach of this initiative to all youth from all walks of life.

One of the key highlights at the event was the “University Product Invention” segment which showcased university students’ latest research and innovations. Among the universities involved in this session were Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, just to name a few. This segment was introduced to promote commercialisation of product innovation among the Universities so they too, can be part of the exporting community.

According to MATRADE’s CEO, Ir. Dr. Mohd Shahreen Zainoreen Madros, “Today’s event is an ideal platform for the Malaysian youth to learn and keep abreast with the latest development in export and how they can tap into the world’s markets. With digital platform, a lot more businesses, including youth-owned, can enjoy greater market access and expand their footprints overseas. MATRADE as Malaysia’s trade promotion organisation will facilitate their journey to go global through our exporters development and export promotion programmes.”

Championing the youth agenda in international trade is in line with ASEAN’s aspirations as stated in the ASEAN 2025 Blueprint that aims to improve people-to-people connectivity, technology transfer and knowledge sharing among the young.

“ASEAN has a high young population and they have a strong consumer power. More than 70 per cent of ASEAN population today comprised people under 45 years old and they play a huge role in the nation’s workforce apart from driving the economy. Furthermore, the event is timely as there is a vibrant entrepreneurial culture among Malaysian youth. However, many of these youth entrepreneurs are still focusing on domestic business,” he added.

For more information on MATRADE’s facilitation, please visit www.matrade.gov.my or MATRADE’s social media channels. MATRADE is Malaysia’s trade promotion organisation and has a network of 46 trade offices worldwide. The organisation is tasked to grow Malaysia’s exporters and make Malaysia a competitive trading nation.