Matrade To Lead Over 700 Companies To China This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), in collaboration with private exhibitors, aims to lead more than 700 companies on a mission to expand Malaysian brands into China's second and third tier cities this year. Chief Executive Officer Dzulkifli Mahmud said, with the agency coordinating the participation of Malaysian companies' in trade fairs under the public private partnership (PPP), he is optimistic of achieving the target of 100 more companies from last year. "As the national trade promotion agency, Matrade will continue to support this PPP arrangement to increase exports, particularly to China. "I believe we must all work together for the benefit of the nation, especially during challenging times like this," he said during a briefing for the upcoming 2017 Spring China Food and Drink Fair, here Monday. The trade fair, co-organised by Matrade and SME Association of Malaysia, will be held from March 22 - 25 in Chengdu. China's other second-tier cities include provincial capitals and coastal cities like Tianjin, Chongqing, Wuhan and Xiamen. Third-tier cities are usually medium-sized cities in each province. Dzulkifli said there is a middle-class population of about 200 million from China's almost 1.4 billion, and it is Matrade's strategic mission to expand Malaysian brands into the second, third and also the fourth tier cities there through trade fairs. "We have lined up two iconic trade fairs this year, namely the 14th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning and 121st Canton Fair 2017 for spring in September and May respectively. "Matrade will continue to support and collaborate with relevant trade associations and chambers of commerce to coordinate other trade promotions and programmes which are not on Matrade's annual work programme," he added. Matrade is also collaborating with ES Event Management Sdn Bhd in penetrating China's 16 provinces under the Products Malaysia Showcase (Promas). The company conducted about 40 exhibitions, mostly in China, under the Promas brand last year. Meanwhile, Dzulkifli also said the bilateral trade between Malaysia and China from January to November 2016 hit RM216.27 billion (about US$48.42 billion), a 2.7 per cent increase from the same corresponding period of last year. -- BERNAMA