The strategic partnership between MATRADE and Fusionex has resulted in the MATRADE Digital Trade Platform (MDTP), which helps bridge the gap between technology, data and businesses, including SMEs, to facilitate the growth of trade.
During the launch at MITEC, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said businesses will benefit from the combination of MATRADE’s expertise, knowledge, resources, global networks and Fusionex’s leading-edge technologies, intelligent tools and technical expertise, all in a single platform.
Adding to this is the B2B e-commerce-enablement system that offers a suite of innovative solutions such as the MATRADE Virtual Engagement platform, MATRADE Marketplace, Marketplace Aggregator and link to the Fusionex Digital Trade Hub.
With MDTP, businesses get first-hand access to the latest market insights and trends, powered by AI and the latest technologies. This allows them to capitalise on collaborative opportunities to boost export revenue growth globally.
The MDTP is also a centralised, data-driven platform that connects potential buyers, export goods and services, showcasing offerings during virtual or hybrid events, and simplifying complex trade procedures.
Zafrul added that MDTP has already onboarded international players from countries such as China, the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, India, the UAE as well as players from every ASEAN country, with a target of connecting 50,000 businesses within the next 10 years.
“As we know, the value of Malaysia’s total trade for 2022 was RM2.85 trillion, with a trade surplus of RM255.48 billion. Our total trade surpassed the RM2-trillion mark for the second year running,” said Zafrul.
In March/April this year, Malaysia attracted RM170 billion of potential foreign direct investment from China and identified RM2.44 billion in potential exports to China. Recently, Malaysia also attracted RM24 billion from Japanese investors, and a further RM2.1 billion of potential exports to Japan.
“And just this morning, Texas Instruments announced their plans to expand their manufacturing in Malaysia with two new assembly and test factories in KL and Melaka, with potential investments of up to RM14.6 billion,” said Zafrul, adding that Malaysia is also a key player in the global Halal market, with total export value of RM59.46 billion in 2022, an increase of 63.8% year-on-year.
However, Zafrul identified several challenges for this year’s trade growth. After growing at 2.7% in 2022, the World Trade Organisation has projected that world merchandise trade volume is projected to grow only 1.7% in 2023 before picking up to 3.2% in 2024.
The downside risks this year include geopolitical tensions, food insecurity, potential financial instability stemming from monetary policy tightening, and increasing levels of debt.
As a policy maker, MITI is aware of the risks to trade growth, since trade and investment are important components of the nation’s GDP growth. One key way to manage those risks for the longer term is by ensuring that Malaysia keeps attracting the right quality investments and keeps producing the right products for exports.
Zafrul added that economic complexity is crucial to ensure the sustainability of Malaysia’s future economic growth. This is because it reflects the level of Malaysia’s knowledge development and accumulation.
Take, for example, Malaysia’s top 5 exports in 2022: in order of value, they are E&E products (RM593.5 billion/ 38.3%); petroleum products (RM163 billion/ 10.5%); palm oil (RM96.5 billion/ 6.2%); chemicals (RM80.6 billion/ 5.2%) and LNG (RM67.99 billion/ 4.4%).
Only E&E products and chemicals can be considered products with a higher complexity. The lower the ranking on the complexity scale, the less manufacturing is required to produce the product.
“One key focus area that NIMP2030 Task Force is seriously looking at is for us to achieve higher economic complexity by making Malaysia a digitally vibrant nation. This includes helping our industries ‘tech up’ by accelerating tech adoption, spurring the next generation of tech innovation companies such as Fusionex, and developing business opportunities by leveraging new data source,” said Zafrul.
