East Coast Entrepreneurs Urged To Participate In Expositions Overseas

KUALA TERENGGANU, July 1 (Bernama) -- Entrepreneurs from the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia are urged to actively participate in the expositions overseas in efforts to grow their businesses.

Malaysia External Trade Development Corp Eastern Region director, Hasziah Mohd Yazid, said the participation from entrepreneurs and companies from the East Coast, including Terengganu, in the trade expos overseas was low compared with those from the West Coast.

"The expos, like the 7th China-Asean Expo 2010 (CAEXPO) will provide a good opportunity for local companies to network with others," she told Bernama here Thursday.

Hasziah said this on the sidelines of the seminar to promote CAEXPO 2010, which will be held in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China from Oct 20-24.

Also present were CAEXPO secretariat vice director-general, Gong Qijun and Terengganu Malay Chamber of Commerce head, Datuk Tengku Ismail Tengku Jaafar.

The seminar is the last in the series to promote CAEXPO 2010 after Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

She said the expo would serve as a platform for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and explore the opportunities available.

Hasziah said China was Malaysia's largest trading partner last year with total trade amounting to US$36.3 billion (US$1=RM3.21).

"The bilateral economic relations have also seen the rapid growth in trade and investment within the last ten years.

"Malaysia's exports to China grew by 12.2 per cent to US$19.1 billion in 2009 while imports from China declined by 9.3 per cent to US$17.2 billion," she said.

She said China continued to be Malaysia largest trading partner.

"Between January and May this year, total exports to China grew by 89.2 per cent to US$19.1 billion compared with the same period last year.

"With the implementation of Asean-China Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA) from Jan 1 this year where the tariffs of more than 90 per cent of the products were reduced to zero, it is expected that Malaysia's trade with China will continue to grow," she said.

Hasziah said CAEXPO 2010 could be regarded as a symbol of cooperation between Asean members and China not only in trade and investment but also in tourism.

"Last year, 100 Malaysian firms participated in the expo under five industry clusters -- food, beverages, general products by small and medium industries, Malaysia brands and government agencies

"This year we have added a services industry cluster because Malaysia is focusing to promote services exports to China," she said.

She said the Malaysian exhibitors secured deals worth RM204.5 million at the expo last year.

-- BERNAMA