SMEs have long been acknowledged as the engines of the country's economic growth and development, and are an important contributor to export growth.
However, SMEs are also vulnerable to downturns and uncertainties of the economy particularly during this challenging pandemic period.
A survey conducted by Matrade last year revealed that businesses were badly affected due to loss of contracts and orders, resulting in potential loss of revenue.
Acknowledging that business communities, especially SMEs, are suffering immensely, Matrade is doubling its efforts in providing assistance to alleviate the consequences of the pandemic and is also exploring enhanced incentives in encouraging Malaysian companies to venture into the export market.
Enhanced facilitation programmes
This includes expanding the scope of its Market Development Grants (MDGs) in order to enable Malaysian exporters to sustain their exports.
The scope has now been expanded to address increased cost for exports, participation in international virtual events, financial compensation for postponements or cancellations of trade promotion events and international certification registration for export including Intellectual Property (IP) as well as branding and advertising.
Matrade supports export promotions for the services sector through the Services Export Funds (SEF), with the objective of facilitating access of Malaysian service providers to overseas projects.
The SEF helps raise the profile and brand Malaysia at the international level as a competent supplier of services. It covers three additional activities to ensure Malaysian service providers' compliance to the requirement of overseas projects.
They are participation fees in training programmes held overseas, registration fees for certification including compliance to sustainability as well as purchase or hire purchase of machinery and equipment, including IT software.
Customised programmes
Matrade has outlined several customised programmes to assist focus groups, particularly SMEs and mid-tier companies to succeed in international trade by providing relevant and sufficient assistance in the form of capacity building, business coaching and advisory, participation in export promotion programmes as well as monitoring progress.
These handholding programmes are the Bumiputera, Women and Youth Exporters Development Programme; Mid-Tier Companies Development Programme (MTCDP) and Globpreneur programme.
Globpreneur was introduced recently and it is an inclusive collaboration programme with targeted state governments and private sector to address the imbalance in the number of SME exporters among states and to develop potential SMEs venturing into export activities.
Thriving in the digitalisation era
The pandemic has not only altered the landscape of the economy, particularly in the operations of brick and mortar businesses, but it has also induced the acceleration of e-commerce growth.
Matrade supports Malaysian companies to leverage on digital platforms for export promotions through the eTRADE Programme which provides financial incentives to onboard cross border e-commerce platforms to keep their businesses afloat.
eBizlink is another programme to intensify the promotion of Malaysia's exports leveraging on virtual and hybrid platforms with greater emphasis on digital marketing.
A total of 40 eBusiness Global Campaigns under this programme will be undertaken in collaboration with international stakeholders, prioritising on high-value export sectors and specific product categories to maximise outcomes.
Matrade chief executive officer Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz said, "As economies around the world begin to tread carefully forward, the inclination towards inventive measures and discovering new streamlines for business and trade are quickly gaining ground. In order to not be left behind, Matrade joins the bandwagon by forging our ICT infrastructure to cater for digitalised means of export promotions."
Matrade continues spurring business momentum with its core trade event for exporters, the National Export Day, in its virtual format called the eNED@2021. The three-day online programme last July, encompassing high-level discussions, knowledge sharing and trade dialogues brought together more than 2200 participants from around the world. The strong interest in eNED was an indication that companies were eager to continue their export businesses despite border closures.
The 17th edition of the Malaysia International Halal Showcase or MIHAS is conducted in a fully virtual manner for the first time from Sept 9 to Dec 31. MIHAS 2021 is poised to become the longest running global halal trade showcase in the world.
Themed 'Empowering Halal, Tomorrow, Together', MIHAS 2021 is virtually accessible and acts as a catalyst in revitalising the global halal economy, despite the challenges posed by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Matrade already had an initiative called International Sourcing Programme (INSP) which was a signature B2B meeting programme that matches buyers from all over the world with Malaysian exporters.
The programme has since been converted into a virtual format called eBizMatch that has been successfully and effectively adopted by suppliers and buyers alike to continue their business meetings in light of travel restrictions.
Until July 31, 2,451 eBizMatch were arranged between 1,789 Malaysian companies and 1,220 foreign buyers which resulted in RM1.99 billion of potential exports. Among the products and services that were well received were medical and pharmaceutical products, food and beverages, furniture and professional services.
In ensuring the business community stays updated with global trends and business opportunities, Matrade optimises its services through MyExport, an online application to disseminate market intelligence reports compiled by its 46 overseas offices around the globe.
MyExport was awarded second runner-up for Best Use of Information Technology at the 2020 World Trade Promotion Awards in Geneva organised by the International Trade Centre (ITC), and is a testimony to Matrade's efforts in utilising digital platforms to keep companies updated with market information, more so during the pandemic.
Continuous Engagement with Strategic Foreign Partners
High-level government-to-government (G2G) engagement is still relevant to enhance bilateral relation that is proven through the recent three missions to South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Austria and Turkey.
The missions successfully generated RM3.45 billion in export sales in the form of commitment from large conglomerates and retail giants from those countries to source from Malaysia.
Adopting sustainability practices
The sustainability agenda is another initiative that Matrade will continue to champion through the Sustainability Action Values for Exporters (S.A.V.E.) programme which started in 2019, engaging and sharing with companies sustainable values and practices in business.
This programme is in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aimed at ensuring Malaysian exporters remain relevant in the evolving global supply chain. S.A.V.E. focused on capacity building initiatives to enhance sustainability awareness in business among exporters.
Matrade's adaptive stance towards change to technology and digital processes in conducting its operations have helped push local businesses into becoming more effective and connected to the global marketplace.
While the pandemic is expected to continue shaping global trade in the extended future, the rollout of vaccination programmes in countries, including Malaysia, will help to ensure trade stability and push external demand.
"We are hopeful that the world economy will eventually return to normalcy in the near future. Matrade will continue to carry out our mandate by enhancing various initiatives in consideration of travel restrictions enforced by governments around the world," said Mohd Mustafa.