Matrade to lead 28 Malaysian companies to Canton Fair

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) will lead 28 Malaysian companies to the 123rd China Import and Export (Canton) Fair, Phase 3 (Spring Session) 2018 from May 1–5 in Guangzhou.

The biannual event, organised by the China Foreign Trade Centre and hosted by the Ministry of Commerce China and People’s Government of Guangdong Province, is the largest trade fair in China.

“The Malaysia Pavilion will exhibit products ranging from food and beverages, healthcare products to household items,” said MATRADE in a statement yesterday.

The national export promotion agency will also arrange one-onone business meetings between Malaysian exhibitors and buyers.

“Malaysia’s participation in the previous 121st Canton Fair managed to record sales totaling RM111.14 million and received more than 3,000 enquiries,” it added.

China and Northeast Asia Section Director Ong Yew Chee said MATRADE’s participation in the Canton Fair is to further enhance the country’s exports to the China market and the world, by taking advantage of the strong presence of foreign and Chinese buyers.

China has remained Malaysia’s largest trading partner for nine consecutive years since 2009.

In 2017, trade between both countries performed beyond expectations with total trade recording a 20.6 per cent growth from 2016 to RM290.70 billion.

Exports to China rose by 28.0 per cent to RM126.2 billion in 2017, while imports increased 15.5 per cent to RM164.5 billion.

Trade from January-February this year expanded by 7.9 per cent to RM46.54 billion compared with the same period of 2017. — Bernama