More S’wakians wanted for Intrade exhibition
KUCHING: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation ( Matrade) and Stylo International have called on more Sarawakians to participate and showcase their lifestyle products at the third edition of Intrade featuring Malaysia Fashion Week.
The lifestyle and fashion exhibition will run from Nov 25 at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre ( MECC) in Kuala Lumpur.
Matrade Lifestyle Unit director Abu Bakar Yusof said there should be more participation from the state’s small and medium enterprises ( SMEs) and startups.
“The event serves as a good platform for local players to highlight their intricacies, depth and uniqueness of Sarawakian culture and heritage through wearables, arts and crafts,” he said during a briefing on the event yesterday.
“Local companies supplying apparel, fashion accessories, beauty products, footwear and textiles at the mega expo can thus take advantage and expect to benefit from this global exposure.”
Abu Bakar said the event would showcase to the world Malaysia’s unique features and diversity.
“Sarawak itself has more than 40 sub- ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle that make a great presentation for ethnicinspired fashion and lifestylerelated products,” he said, adding such products would appeal to European and other developed international markets.
Abu Bakar added that Matrade would work with relevant local agencies and ministries to give native artisans, mostly located in rural and remote areas, the opportunity to showcase their products.
“I believe the Ministry of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment Sarawak and Matrade can provide them with both financial and non-financial support. Inter- agency and community partnership play a key role here,” he said.
“So we hope local players in Sarawak can take up this opportunity and secure a spot at the event as we believe their products have great potential for export.”
Nine companies from Sarawak took part in the 2015 event and Matrade hopes to double the figure this year.
“Participants can expect to meet local and international buyers and they will also get the opportunity to be involved in Matrade’s signature one- on- one business matching programme called International Sourcing Programme,” he said.
“The B2B (business to business) and B2C ( business to consumer) elements in the event will see hundreds of international and local fashion and lifestyle players as well as buyers and media from around the world to converge in a 10,000 square metre showcase of 300 lifestyle and fashion booths and a host of the exciting events over a period of four days.”
Intrade will exhibit products from six main clusters – fashion, apparel and accessories; jewellery; beauty, hair and cosmetics; arts and handicrafts; lifestyle and interior; as well as textile and peripherals.
Malaysia Fashion Week will feature a number of fashion shows under the Malaysia Fashion Showcase and Mercedes-Benz Stylo Asia Fashion Week.
Last year Malaysia Fashion Week recorded 9,150 local and international visitors including over 200 fashion buyers from China, South Korea, Japan, South Africa, UAE, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Malaysia.
The 2015 event garnered RM127.52 million in sales transactions, a 40 per cent increase from 2014 and a total of 1,541 business matching meetings between local companies and international buyers.
For more information go to www. malaysiafashionweek.my or email info@ malaysiafashionweekmy.
Exhibitor applications are open until Sept 15.