KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — The International Sourcing Programme (INSP), held in conjunction with the Malaysia International Halal Showcase (Mihas) 2022, has successfully hosted 1,500 pre-arranged business-to-business (B2B) meetings between 500 Malaysian suppliers and 400 foreign buyers.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation’s (Matrade) flagship business matching programme saw B2B meetings being facilitated during its physical and virtual events with buyers from 50 countries, including from the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, Asean, Oceania and African region.
Premium buyers at INSP Mihas this year represented some of the largest conglomerates, retailers and supermarkets in their respective countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United States, India and Turkey that were identified by Matrade’s 46 global offices.
Matrade chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz said the external trade government agency is thrilled to see the INSP Mihas programme being well received by international buyers and Malaysian exporters.
He said Matrade has received continuous demand well beyond the closing date of the virtual programme on Aug 31, 2022 after running it for four months since May 2022.
“This being the case, we are pleased to share that Matrade is extending the INSP Mihas virtual programme until November 15, 2022.
“This is a positive sign for Malaysia’s trade performance as well as the limitless opportunities in the Halal economy,” he said in a statement, today.
The physical INSP Mihas kicked off today at Menara Matrade, a day before the largest Halal trade show in the world, Mihas 2022 opens its doors on September 7-10.
Meanwhile, the virtual version has hosted close to 200 international buyers and over 200 Malaysian exporters to date, which is anticipated to generate an estimate of RM43.1million in potential sales.
International premium buyer Ansar Group of Companies purchase manager (supermarket) K V Shabeer from Qatar told Bernama that the INSP Mihas 2022 offered the company a platform to procure products such as confectioneries, cookies and food supplements to be imported to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCG) countries.
“There is a lot of opportunities for Malaysian exporters to get into the GCG countries where GCC countries share a similar demand for Halal products and they have big potential to penetrate the market,” he said, adding that he anticipated to procure an estimated value of US$500 million in products at Mihas 2022.
Ansar Group Companies is the leading retail company in Qatar and has 18 renowned shopping centres across GCC countries.
RRL vice president Prince Chatterjee from India said this is a maiden effort for the company to procure personal care as well as wellness and beauty products from Malaysian suppliers for the Indian market.
“I have met very promising manufacturers so far and we will get into commercial negotiations or commercial contract closure and start the product registrations.
“It generally takes about six months from the start of the process until the products are ready to be exported,” he said.
RRL is the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, the largest multinational conglomerate in India, focusing on food and beverages, consumer electronics and agro products.
Meanwhile, local supplier CLA Empire Sdn Bhd founder Said Saiful Fazli Said Alwi, which sells cookies and cereal, said the company is eyeing to expand their products in the Asean market after successfully establishing a footprint in Brunei and Singapore.
“This is our first time joining INSP Mihas and we hope our company can start to export to many more Asean countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines to hit our RM10 million sale after securing RM5 million sales to date this year,” he said. — Bernama
