EVEN in his maiden trade mission, Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade & Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has proven his critics wrong.
Despite the pandemic and global challenges, his East Asian investment mission was successful in raking in a total of RM986.15 mil of export-related deals.
About RM70 mil of exports in products and services to South Korea were reported to be gained as a result of meetings with Korean buyers.
This included one with major South Korean retailer, GS Retail, which operates more than 15,000 convenience stores and 289 supermarkets with products made available online and offline.
In the Azmin-led meeting, commitment to triple up sourcing of food products and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) by GS Retail was discussed and agreed upon, according to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).
Follow-up meetings between MATRADE and GS Retail have been organised to determine specific Malaysian suppliers that can meet the sourcing requirements of GS Retail.
Japanese interest
As for Japan, meetings were held with major “Sogo Sosha” general trading companies in Japan such as Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co.
Commitments were made to increase sourcing from Malaysia for FMCG, palm oil, halal products and services as well as chemicals and chemical products.
In addition to the meetings with Japan’s major trading companies, business exchanges was also held with Daiso, a popular operator of 100-yen shop which carries a wide range of household items.
Internationally operating in 26 countries, Daiso operates 5,741 stores, of which more than half are in Japan.
A follow up with Daiso has been arranged by MATRADE to connect Malaysian exporters to an opportunity of supplying more Malaysian products. Currently, about 160 SKUs (stock-keeping units) of Malaysian products have been made available in Daiso outlets in Japan.
The Japanese buyers were very encouraging with commitment to purchase from Malaysia over the next 24 months, amounting to RM916.15 mil of export value.
During the mission, MATRADE also signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) with Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) to strategically strengthen Malaysia’s trade promotion cooperation with Japan in areas such as halal, ICT, e-commerce and digital transformation.
“South Korea and Japan are two major markets in Asia for Malaysian companies,” commented MATRADE CEO Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz.
“The trade and investment mission was very fruitful as it adds on to the interest to cultivate bilateral relations between Malaysia with South Korea and Japan. MATRADE is focused on collaborating with Malaysian exporters to help drive their export sales as part of our effort in economic recovery.”
MATRADE currently has 46 global network offices around the globe to promote Malaysia’s exports. – April 26, 2021
