KUALA LUMPUR: Japanese External Trade Organisation (Jetro) has launched a new service called Japan Street to connect Malaysian buyers with Japanese manufacturers.
Jetro, in a statement, said due to the impact of Covid-19, business matching events and business meetings have been cancelled or postponed worldwide, and securing opportunities for business meetings has become a sales issue for both buyers and suppliers.
In response to this situation, Jetro said Japan Street is listing more than 1,200 Japanese manufacturers to connect with Malaysian companies.
Japan Street has provided online business meeting opportunities for about 50 Malaysian buyers seeking to meet new Japanese products.
Japan is famous for its traditional, unique and up-to-date technology products.
Thus, Japanese products such as cosmetics and kitchenware have a high demand and increased 40 per cent and 7 per cent respectively in the Malaysian market in 2019 compared with 2015.
Recently, cosmetics products business meetings conducted by Jetro have successfully connected four Malaysian companies with 15 Japanese manufacturers this month under the same service.
Jetro said from this event, three new trends can be seen in the Malaysian cosmetics market, such as the demand for cosmetics moving from makeup products to skincare.
Meanwhile, Jetro said skincare and grooming products for men and products with new technology by Japan are also increasing in demand among Malaysians.
Japan Street business meeting participant from Bluefin International Vincent Pang said as the next project, Jetro Kuala Lumpur will hold a kitchenware and home living business matching event this September, in response to Malaysian demand.
"Japan Street always provides updates on new registered products and manufacturers under Jetro.
"This update eases us on looking for new opportunities with Japanese manufacturers," said Pang.
Most of the Japan Street participants were satisfied with the service to gain knowledge on Japanese products and comfortable using the Japan Street website.