My Visit to Matrade on 9th September 08

Presenting a Selangor memento to MATRADE CEO Dato’ Noharuddin Nordin. The woman next to Noharuddin is the Deputy CEO, Dr Wong Lai Sum

I visited MATRADE – The Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation with my aides and we were very well-received by MATRADE CEO Dato’ Noharuddin Nordin and senior officials including Deputy CEO, Dr Wong Lai Sum & Senior Directors, Zakaria Kamaruddin & Jamaludin Hussain. The visit date had been changed a few times due to some unforseen circumstances. 

We were given full briefings of MATRADE’s set-up, its scope of work and the scale of its operations. MATRADE’s focus is on promoting the export of Malaysian goods and services.

The detailed briefing and discussions with MATRADE senior officials

On my right is Richard Yeoh (my senior aide / policy advisor), on my left is Alwie, an officer of SSIC – Selangor State Investments Centre.

Malaysia is generally ranked around 18th – 20th place in terms of trade volume globally, MATRADE aims for Malaysia to be in the top 10 by 2020.

Since 1990, Malaysia’s total trade volume had grown at a steady pace and is expected to surpass RM1,200 billion this year from a low base of RM150 billion in 1990.

Asia is increasingly important – 58% of Malaysia’s exports go to Asian countries

With 38 offices worldwide and 5 regional offices in Malaysia, the coverage is quite wide. Despite budget and manpower constraints, MATRADE has indeed done a fine job in terms of boosting Malaysian exports in the short space of 15 years since its establishment in 1993.

MATRADE’s board comprises the chairman and four senior government officials and another eight drawn from the ranks of private sector captains of industry.

Most of MATRADE’s services are available to Malaysian exporters free of charge. There is a very good business library at MATRADE’s iconic and ultra-modern buidling at Jalan Khidmat Usaha, off Jalan Duta and near Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan.

The building also houses a permanent exhibition of made in Malaysia products that is very impressive. The building has vast space that is available for use as trade fair and exhibition events.

MATRADE CEO taking us on a tour of the exhibition at MECC – Matrade’s Exports Convention Centre

This permanent exhibition showcases the full range of Malaysian products & services – very impressive!

MATRADE has an exporters’ database of almost 14,000 companies. Amongst the interesting support given is the Market Development Grant that provides financial support to Malaysian exporters seeking new markets. The other is the Brand Promotion Grant which supports Malaysian exporters up to RM2 million to help them establish an international brand. There are also special programmes to help Bumiputra and women exporters to build up their exports business.

I came away from my visit very impressed with MATRADE’s work and I hope they will redouble their efforts to ensure that their goal of making Malaysia a top 10 trading nation will be realised well before the 2020 target date.
To read more about MATRADE and their excellent range of services, visit www.matrade.gov.my