Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), in collaboration with the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Kuskop) and SME Bank, will send 16 Malaysian companies to showcase local halal industry in Japan.
The trio will organise the participation of 16 local companies in the Export Acceleration Mission to Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, from Oct 31 to Nov 8, as part of its ongoing efforts to facilitate Malaysian SMEs’ expansion in the global market.
Held in conjunction with the Malaysia Fair 2023 from Nov 3 to 5, the mission’s main objectives are to showcase Malaysia’s capabilities in the Halal food and beverages as well as lifestyle industries, especially fashion.
“This is to enable the Malaysian companies to make inroads into the Japanese market which comes at an opportune time ahead of the World Expo 2025 that will be held in Osaka, Japan,” said Matrade in a statement today.
Matrade through its offices in Tokyo and Osaka will coordinate programme for the Malaysian companies including their participation in Malaysia Fair 2023, business seminars as well as one-to-one business matching with Japanese buyers.
Its transformation and Digital Trade Division director Asnor Vidya Nor Azmi said they are collaborating with Asean-Japan Centre and Osaka International Business Promotion Centre to provide avenue for the Malaysian companies to learn more about the Japanese market and opportunities.
“This will help them to expand their products into Japan,” she said.
The government agency said that the mission is part of Matrade’s ongoing engagement with Kuskop and SME Bank to nurture and groom more capable SMEs to establish and expand global footprints.
“In keeping with the ‘Malaysia Madani’, this trilateral collaboration would also enable Malaysian SMEs to prosper on a global scale and create spillover effects of higher employment and household income,” it said, adding it hoped that the mission will produce valuable results for the Malaysian companies,
Matrade added Japan provides enormous export potential for Malaysian SMEs as it is one of Malaysia’s most important export destinations and the country’s fourth largest trading partner last year.
“Our trade with Japan grew by 21.2% to reach a value of RM181.51 billion. Our exports to Japan amounted RM98.24 billion, which marked an increase of 29.6%,” it added.
