China Now An Export Market For CAEXPO Participants

By Nurul Hanis Izmir KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysian companies which participated in the recent 13th China ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) 2016 have now added China as an export market for the promotion and supply of Malaysian brands and traditional food. The list includes cooking paste, snacks and fruit-flavoured drinks. Malaysia's small population base that contrasts sharply with China's 1.3 billion people, affords an excellent and huge opportunity for food exports by Malaysian companies. A local brand, WaRich, for the first time joined the four-day Caexpo in Nanning, China, and found the trading event to be a good exposure for its products, namely cooking paste and biscuits. "Given the opportunity, we want to enter the China market," company representative, Mohd Nazri Yahya told Bernama. WaRich is a brand registered under the Koperasi Usahawan Groombig Negeri Sembilan Bhd. Nazri said to facilitate business with China, WaRich is seeking to adopt the online trading platform for its products. Another trader, Gunalan Thrumalai managed to secure orders for 11 containers of "muruku", a crunchy, traditional Indian offering. "This is my first time at the Caexpo and I have already secured good business. Roughly, one container of muruku will cost about US$24,073 (RM100,000)," the muruku maker from G&R Foods (M) Sdn Bhd said. Thrumalai said his products, which are halal certified, had attracted a Chinese agent to be the sole distributor in Nanning city. "We will create a new packaging that is suitable for Chinese consumers," he added. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry's Second Minister Ong Ka Chuan was recently reported as saying that Malaysian halal food is looked upon favourably by Chinese consumers. He said this would encourage more companies to produce halal products to be marketed in the country, not only targeting Muslims, but also non-Muslims. Meanwhile, another company, Innotrend Resources (M) Sdn Bhd promotes different flavours of tea and coffee.But, its most famous is durian-flavoured coffee. "Chinese really love our 'King of Fruits'. They like anything that has a taste of it. We therefore tried introducing the fruit as an ingredient, giving its flavour and aroma," said sales representative, Tan Teng Chai. He also said the product has been in the market for a year now in the cities of Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The four-day Caexpo was also attended by Alibaba Group Chairman, Jack Ma, who said that moving forward, trading via the e-commerce platform would play an important role in the economic development of the ASEAN region. With e-commerce are showing great interest in the region, China will set up a cross-border platform to facilitate more imports from Southeast Asian countries. It is also considering drafting new laws and regulations for the country’s e-commerce industry to speed up the business process. -- BERNAMA