The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) have a mammoth task: promoting and facilitating Malaysian traders in their steps to reaching out the global market and getting their homegrown products onto the international scene. In this task, however, they are tireless, and after a plethora of events during 2012, the year was brought to an end by INTRADE, which ran during the end of November.

INTRADE – International Trade Malaysia – is an annual international trade and export exhibition that serves to provide vital opportunities for networking, business matching, exchanging ideas, and sharing knowledge between the business communities of different nations. An event such as this is vital for businesses to develop and thrive, and for all those involved it was an enlightening and often profitable experience, as well as an enjoyable chance to meet others engaged in a similar industry and swap stories.

The 2012 edition was the sixth year of INTRADE, and the organisers were thrilled to welcome nearly 600 foreign exhibitors from 56 countries to the spacious exhibition hall in the MATRADE building. These exhibitors were arranged into clusters to ensure their relevance to one another, and there four consisted of the Automotive industry; the Electrical, Electronics, and Information Communication Technology industry; the Manufacturing Support industry; and the Lifestyle industry.

These four clusters were carefully selected in line with the theme the event carried, namely Energising Export Growth, and organisers were keen to emphasise the importance of sustaining growth in the industry despite the economic issues that are sweeping the globe. Malaysia continues to flourish despite the clouds gathering in other countries, and so local businesses should continue to look outside the country for opportunities of growing their business.

INTRADE was officially opened in a special ceremony at which Dato’ Jacob Dungau Sagan, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, spoke, urging those attending the exhibition to “look for business partners who you think you can work with and who matches your needs. You need to leverage on each other’s strengths and capabilities to tap the global market.”

He commented on the admirable growth of the country, mentioning how the Economic Transformation Programme has reached its two-year mark and the “progress we have achieved so far has been encouraging. The World Bank recently rated us the 12th most competitive economy in the world, ahead of countries like Sweden, Taiwan, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland.”

He was, however, quick to warn the nation against resting on its laurels: “we must persevere and continue to do what it takes to become a more productive, more innovative, and more competitive nation.”

The exhibition may be over for another year, but 2013 is sure to see the return of INTRADE for a seventh edition, while further ahead the buzz is already beginning to swell on the brand new MATRADE Centre that will open in 2014, offering one million square feet in which industry leaders from all around the world to find space and ensure that INTRADE can continue to expand.

Malaysia seems set to continue its steady climb into a top spot in the global economy, and MATRADE can be commended for its continuous efforts, through events like INTRADE, in encouraging, supporting, and facilitating local traders and business owners in their quest to conquer the international market.

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For more information on MATRADE, visit www.matrade.gov.my. To read about INTRADE, visit www.intrademalaysia.my.

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Source: Senses of Malaysia Jan-Feb 2013

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