KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has collaborated with Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) to share retail opportunities available at the airports with members of the Bumiputera Retailers Organisation (BRO).

Group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said fostering the Bumiputera agenda has always been a key strategy at MAHB and the airport operator group embarked on a collaboration with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) since 2006 and provided between 15 to 20 retail lots to small Bumiputera retailers as part of its corporate responsibility initiative.

“Bumiputera participation in terms of retail space at our international airports stands at 33 per cent which is certainly higher than most malls within the Klang Valley. In terms of the number of retail outlets, there are 800 retail outlets within the entire Malaysia Airports (MAHB) network of airports and nearly 20 per cent of these are occupied by Bumiputera entrepreneurs,” he said in a statement, today.

Mohd Shukrie said since two years ago, MAHB enhanced further the Bumiputera entrepreneur development programmes at the airport under the Commercial Reset strategy.

Under this strategy, the Sense of Malaysia (SOM) initiative was curated where among others, consumers are presented with the opportunity to obtain local products which are of good quality, attractively packaged and displayed in retail lots with a distinct Malaysian flavour.

SOM is an ongoing initiative and has also had several successful retail campaigns such as HIMPUN that focused on small and medium enterprise (SME) brands for fashion, craft and beauty brands; and KUEHKITA that focused on SME brands for local food products.

These campaigns are a collaboration with the Malaysia Design Development Centre (DDEC), an agency under the Ministry of Rural Development that has helped ensure that the offerings were the best that Malaysia has to offer.

Meanwhile, PUNB chief executive officer Izwan Zainuddin said the strategy and planning by MAHB through Commercial Reset has uplifted the standard of airport retail where not only international brands are being recognised but local champions, specifically Bumiputera entrepreneurs who would benefit from this initiative since the KLIA is a definite centre for hosting millions of guests and passengers every year.

Both MAHB and PUNB aim to achieve the objectives of the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 by providing further support in ensuring that Bumiputera businesses from industries such as food and beverage (F&B) and fashion are a part of the retail space within the KLIA and other international airports, the statement said. — Bernama