The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Malaysia targets a 30 percent participation rate for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in global business by next year.
MITI Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad said 25 percent of local companies to date have established networking in the foreign market.
“We are pushing aggressively towards the goals and a lot more has to be done in terms of non-barrier tariffs and harmonization of standards in order to increase global trade,” he said, as quoted by Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, during his talk at the National Mark of Malaysian Brand Forum.
He added that this means complying with all established commercial standards before sending their goods and services overseas.
Meanwhile, Datuk Hafsah Hashim, SME Corporation Malaysia chief executive officer, said at the same forum that this is the fifth year that the corporation has been giving awards to SMEs whose local brands have made their mark in the world market.
She said that 102 companies have been certified so far, exceeding the target of 100 companies certified in five years.
“But this is not about numbers but the quality of companies particularly with good brands that we want to bring to the international market,” she said.
Hafsah said all the companies had come up with excellent products and services and passed stringent evaluation by SIRIM QAS Sdn Bhd, a certification and testing body in Malaysia.
She added that the certified companies have increased their sales from 5 percent to up to 30 percent annually due to enhanced market access domestically and internationally.
MITI forecasts 6% growth in 2014
Earlier this month, Minister Mustapa said the country is optimistic that trade growth this year will surpass the 4.7 percent achieved last year, propped up by bright prospects in world economic growth.
He noted that despite the European economy remaining sluggish and China’s slowing economic growth, other trade destinations still indicated bright prospects.
Among the trade destinations he said showed positive outlook are Japan, whose economy is expanding, the United States with its recovering economy, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“There will be some slight increase in total trade growth. We are expecting somewhere around six percent,” he said.
Malaysia’s total trade in August 2014 increased to RM123.9 billion (US$37.7 billion) from the RM118.58 billion recorded in the same month last year.
Exports in August expanded 1.7 percent year-on-year to RM63.88 billion, while imports rose 7.6 percent to RM60.02 billion.
Photo: Cccefalon
