Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) through its Frankfurt office promotes Malaysia’s commitment and efforts in sustainability transformation to the German business community through a webinar titled ‘Sustainability Goals in Malaysian-German Trade’. The webinar was a joint effort with the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Industrie- und Handelskammer Frankfurt am Main, or, IHK Frankfurt).
Organised on March 9, the event was attended by 130 participants from both Malaysia and Germany and shared market insights on current market trends, laws and regulations, as well as sharing of experiences through case studies.
The speakers from Malaysia were Trade Commissioner at MATRADE Frankfurt Zuhaila Sedek; and CEO/Co-Founder of DIBIZ Malaysia, Unnikrishnan Unnithan. While speakers from Germany were the Head of International & Affairs, BME Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics, Olaf Holzgrefe; and Owner, TWB Management and Consulting, Dr. Thomas W. Büttner. The webinar was also graced by the Consul General of Malaysia, Farzamie Sarkawi, and Dr. Jürgen Ratzinger, Managing Director of International Business at IHK Frankfurt.
Farzamie in his opening speech said, “There are myriads of potential for both sides to foster cooperation in sustainability, climate change, artificial intelligence, digitalisation, renewable energy and life sciences. We can accelerate sustainability through active collaboration and offer the necessary means to empower greater actions towards climate and sustainable practices. In realising such ambitions, delivering support, capacity building and technology to the developing world are crucial.”
With policy documents such as the National Trade Blueprint (NTBp) charting Malaysia’s sustainability transformation agenda, Malaysia’s trade promotion organisation, MATRADE, plays a key role in ensuring the strategic plans laid out can be realised on the ground. Hence, MATRADE pushes for more capacity-building efforts on the topic of sustainability for Malaysian companies.
During the session, Malaysia’s growing sustainability readiness was emphasised. Such readiness is being fuelled by the development of strong policies and industry engagement initiatives, both of which are essential to developing Malaysia’s future value proposition in global trade.
“Adopting sustainability is a necessity, and increasingly, more markets are putting pressure on industries to abide by laws and guidelines that encourage ecological and social care. More goods and services from outside the European Union (EU) must comply with sustainability standards and labelling before they can be sold there, including in markets like Germany. For example, with the introduction of Germany’s Sustainability Due Diligence Act in January this year, our exporters must do the needful to continue supplying to Germany and other parts of the EU. Having more exporters who are sustainable and responsible will definitely create a positive brand for Malaysia as a strong trading nation,” Zuhaila said.
Germany is not only one of Malaysia’s most important trading partners in the EU, but it is also seen as a leader in the field of sustainability. Initiatives such as the webinar may help spark interest among business people in both countries in building stronger partnerships for sustainability.
Bilateral relations between Malaysia and Germany go back a long way. Germany was one of the first nations to recognise and establish diplomatic ties with the young, independent Malaya back in 1957. Over the past 65 years, the two nations have built a solid relationship based on trust and respect.
