Malaysian Firms Bag Good Business At Hannover IT Show

From Manik Mehta FRANKFURT, March 14 (Bernama) -- The CEBIT Fair in Hannover from March 6 to 13, touted by the organiser Deutsche Messe as the world’s biggest information technology (IT) trade show, proved to be an attractive hunting ground for Malaysian companies. The Malaysian exhibitors -– eight private sector companies as well as Universiti Teknologi Petronas -- took part under the aegis of the Malaysian External Trade Development Corp. (Matrade). According to Mohd. Sabri Abd. Rahman, Malaysia’s senior trade commissioner in Frankfurt, actual sales by the Malaysian exhibitors amounted to RM8.3 million plus potential sales opportunities of RM12.8 million, yielding a total of about RM21.1 million. (US$1=RM3.02) “According to the input from the exhibitors, who indicated this in a questionnaire, a total of 366 business enquiries were received,” Sabri told Bernama at his office in Frankfurt. Some Malaysian companies had fared extremely well, he said. Penang-based Hybrinix Technology Sdn Bhd, which provides mini CPUs, netbooks and tablet PCs, secured orders worth RM8.2 million from buyers in Turkey, Russia, the UK, Iran and Germany. Bizcode Asia Sdn Bhd, also of Penang, received orders for RM122,400 and prospect of sales of RM612,000 for its IT accessories from buyers from the UK, Poland, Germany and France -- in fact its representative visited the UK buyer immediately after the fair, Sabri said. Kuala Lumpur-based Pradotec Corp. Sdn Bhd, which specialises in product design as well as smartcard and biometric technology, estimated potential sales of RM12 million of smartcard readers to companies in India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey, as well as some 100 units to Poland. “This was the 13th time that Matrade organised the Malaysian participation in the CeBIT show, with nine companies showcasing their products and services under the Malaysian national pavilion,” Sabri said. Some companies such as Hybrinix Technology, Malaysian Software Testing Board and Pradotec Corp., encouraged by the response at the CeBIT fair, have become repeat exhibitors. Sabri said most of the Malaysian exhibitors had expressed their intention to participate again under the Matrade aegis in future shows. Matrade’s Frankfurt office, which organises Malaysia’s participation in a number of prestigious trade fairs in Germany, is confident that Malaysia’s IT industry will leave a mark in international markets. “The CeBIT show is not just a German show, it is an international show which attracts buyers and sellers from around the world, and provides good exposure to our companies in Malaysia when they showcase their products and services here,” Sabri added. -- BERNAMA