Malaysia’s National Export Council (NEC) has formulated several initiatives to promote public-private partnerships aimed at driving export growth, including through a global campaign to market products and services abroad.
The initiatives were recently presented at a NEC meeting chaired by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) said the program entails promoting Malaysia’s capabilities in areas such as trade, investment, tourism, education, and healthcare to clusters of global citizens.
“It is aimed at optimizing the benefits of strategic cooperation among ministries and government agencies, the private sector, government-linked companies (GLCs) and Malaysian diaspora,” it said in a statement.
Matrade said that for 2016, the promotional program aims to strengthen the “Malaysia Brand” in London in September, Shanghai in November, and Sydney in December.
The program of activities will include the holding of the Malaysia Business Forum, Malaysia Export Day, Malaysia Fest, Malaysia Flavours, Malaysia Art Exhibition, Malaysia Sales Online, and supermarket promotions.
Matrade said another planned initiative is enhancing the export of higher-education services. The meeting deliberated on ways to brand and market the country’s educational services globally, said a report from Bernama.
“These include a joint promotion in premier education exhibitions abroad and the introduction of incentives to institutions of higher learning to improve infrastructure and the setting up of international research labs in Malaysia,” the statement said.
Matrade also discussed the tasks of Malaysian Incorporated (Malaysian Inc.), which was set up recently under the National Professional Service Export Council. A membership-based organization made up of professionals in various disciplines, Malaysia Inc.’s main role is to identify and evaluate projects abroad and coordinate participation in the bidding process through forming consortia of Malaysian companies.
The NEC, which is made up of 19 members—12 from the public sector and seven from the private sector—was set up in December 2014 to spur the country’s export growth.
Malaysian exports in the first four months of 2016 grew to MYR246.51 billion (US$60.14 billion), a 1.2% increase, while imports decreased 0.9% to MYR213.51 billion.
Total trade for the Southeast Asian economy amounted to MYR460.02 billion compared to MYR459.04 billion in the same period last year, Matrade said. It added that during the period under review, the trade surplus recorded a double-digit growth of 17% amounting to MYR32.99 billion.
Malaysia’s exports in April 2016 rose 1.6% to MYR61.35 billion compared to April 2015.
The positive growth was supported by an increase in exports to ASEAN countries, the United States, and Taiwan, added the council.
Imports declined 2.3% to MYR52.29 billion, while total trade stood at MYR113.64 billion compared to MYR113.9 billion in April 2015.
Photo: Sakurai Midori
