A total of 12 Malaysian companies from four main sectors, namely aerospace, food and beverages, medical devices and disposables as well as electric and electrical products participated in the mission. More than 200 trade enquiries received from potential buyers.
KUCHING: Malaysian companies that participated in the Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) to Moscow, Russia from August 26 to 28, 2019 have successfully reaped potential export sales of RM85 million.
The mission that spearheaded by Matrade aimed at exploring business opportunities in Russia as well as expanding Malaysia’s footprint in Russia.
A total of 12 Malaysian companies from four main sectors, namely aerospace, food and beverages, medical devices and disposables as well as electric and electrical products participated in the mission. More than 200 trade enquiries received from potential buyers.
According to Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, Matrade’s deputy chief executive officer (export acceleration), Russia needs to be in the Malaysian exporters’ radar.
“With a population of more than 140 million people, trade with Russia means a leap into Eurasian Customs Union countries such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan,” he said.
Apart from participating in the trade exhibition, Matrade also organised side programmes such as market briefings and visits to major Russian retailers and distributors in Moscow.
The purpose of the side programmes were to update Malaysian companies with the current trade practices by the Russian business communities, to give exposure and opportunity to Malaysian participants to directly interact, expand their network and explore business opportunities with the local potential clients as well as with private and public entities.
Matrade through its Moscow office had arranged a total of 126 business meetings between Malaysian companies and leading importers and buyers in Moscow.
On top of that, it also organised side programmes such as a seminar by industry experts to update Malaysian companies on the latest rules and regulation to penetrate the market as well a networking session with leading Russian importers, local trade associations and Chambers of Commerce.
During the mission, Malaysian companies had the opportunity to visit the 14th International Aviation and Space Show or better known as MAKS 2019, for them to engage themselves with the potential aviation and aerospace players to explore collaboration in that industry.
Russia is one of the main markets where Matrade is focusing in expanding trade for Malaysian exporters.
For the period between January to July this year, Malaysia’s total trade with Russia amounted to RM5.59 billion, an increase of 20.3 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2018.
Total exports grew by 40.1 per cent to value at RM2.16 billion, while imports increased by 10.5 per cent to RM3.43 billion.