Malaysia, Largest Supplier Of Processed Food To Singapore, Says Matrade

SINGAPORE, April 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is the largest supplier of processed food to Singapore, with a share of 17 per cent of the republic's total imports of processed food from the world, says the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) Singapore Trade Commissioner Naim Abdul Rahman. He said the three top items imported by Singapore from Malaysia are prepared cereals, processed seafood and, chocolates and cocoa preparations. "Processed food was Malaysia's eight largest export product to Singapore last year worth RM2 billion (US$651.5 million) or 14 per cent share of Malaysia's total exports of processed foods to the world. "The sector's exports to Singapore grew 10.6 per cent over 2010," he told Malaysian exhibitors at the Mara Pavilion in conjunction with the Food & HotelAsia (FHA) 2012 Singapore Expo here on Wednesday. The networking event was graced by Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Md Hussin Nayan. Naim also said that Singapore was Malaysia's second largest trading partner accounting for a trade volume of RM161.7 billion (US$52.69) last year. Notwithstanding Malaysia's strong performance as a major supplier of processed food, Naim reminded that stiff competition was inevitable since the island's food and beverage (F&B) market was small yet matured. "Therefore, Malaysian companies are advised to continue offering products that suit Singaporean eating habits and lifestyles. "Convenient foods such as ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat items would have high potential in Singapore, seemingly fitting to the high-pace lifestyles of Singaporeans. Besides, functional foods that carry health values are also gaining popularity," he noted. The trade commissioner noted that participating in trade events such as FHA would be an effective platform for Malaysian companies not only to study the market trend but more importantly to be able to market their F&B products in Singapore or other markets. Ten Malaysian companies under MARA namely Madura Industries Sdn Bhd, V-Pack Sdn Bhd, Magic Taste Syrups Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd, AZP Resource Sdn Bhd, Perfect Agro (M) Sdn Bhd, Flavor Innovation, Masdar Safi Sdn Bhd, Muhazrin Holdings Sdn Bhd, Faiza Marketing Sdn Bhd, Azaib Holdings Sdn Bhd are participating at the four-day FHA 2012, a biennial mega trade event for the food and hospitality industry, which ends on Friday. The companies are promoting items such as frozen foods, juices and cordials, instant foods, spices and chocolates. FHA2012, organised by Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) and now in its 18th edition, is dubbed as Asia's biggest international event spotlighting specialised shows that encompass all the significant sectors of the food and hospitality industry namely FoodAsia, HotelAsia, Bakery&Pastry, HospitalityStyleAsia and HospitalityTechnology. -- BERNAMA