Lower figure from China-Asean event due to global economic woes
NANNING: Malaysian exhibitors
generated total sales of RM141.12mil from the China-Asean Expo held here in
China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region from Sept 21-25.
The numbers were way lower than
the RM216mil from last year mainly due to the softening of the global economy
and a slowdown in the export and manufacturing sectors in China.
However, Malaysia External Trade
Development Corp (Matrade), which this year put together 136 exhibitors from
Malaysia for the ninth edition of the expo, remains bullish about the prospect
of the biggest trade show in southwestern China.
Matrade chief executive officer
Dr Wong Lai Sum said the expo had evolved from merely a fair selling processed
food products into one that showcased other products and services from
Malaysia.
“For a long time, Chinese people
only saw Malaysia as a supplier of white coffee but now our F&B and service
sectors are promoted in the form of franchising as well. It will continue to
evolve.
“China is no longer the China as
a decade ago. It has grown in terms of sophistication and needs. Its people
have more preferences as they become more exposed and educated and much
travelled,” she said.
She said Matrade started
promoting the information and communication technology and service sectors
three years ago and now it could see companies from these sectors making
inroads into China.
“Last year at the expo, we had
legal firms from Malaysia which inked agreements linking them with 100 legal
firms in China. They facilitated each other's investors and clients with the
legal perspective of going into the China market,” she said.
This year, the exhibitors,
including 128 companies, six government agencies and two state agencies, took
up a total area of 3,000 sq m in the Malaysian pavilion at the Nanning
International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The pavilion was divided into six
clusters namely F&B, coffee products, health and wellness, lifestyle,
services and government agencies.
The government cluster was
represented by Matrade itself, Malaysian Investment Development Authority,
Malaysia Palm Oil Board, Higher Education Ministry, Tourism Malaysia and East
Coast Economic Region Development Council.
Wong said Matrade arranged 800
business matchmaking sessions for the exhibitors with 252 Chinese companies
during the expo.
“These meetings were not only
with Chinese companies from Fujian province, Shanghai, Beijing and other places
in China, but also involved Taiwanese and Hong Kong companies which wanted to
meet our Malaysian exporters.”
“The expo has become an
international platform. If you look at the visitors who come here, you will
find Russians, Europeans and Americans who usually finish with this and then go
down to the Canton Fair in Guangzhou,” she said.
Deputy International Trade and
Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said Malaysia faced the stiffest
competition from Singapore among Asean members in doing business with China.
“As one of the most developed
countries in Asean, Malaysia has a unique status in China compared with our
neighbouring countries. Because of this, what we offer has a special appeal to
the Chinese. We have our niche market. Maybe this is because Malaysia is more
competitive in terms of cost and the availability of technology,” he said.
The expo was initiated in 2004 by
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to boost trade between China and Asean as a follow-up
of the signing of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
between the parties 10 years ago.
CHOW HOW BAN
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