Matrade Confident Sales At Intrade 2016 Can Surpass US$30.40 Million

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) is confident sales from International Trade Malaysia 2016 (Intrade 2016) will surpass the US$30.40 million (RM127 million) registered last year. (US$1 = RM4.17) Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Ahmad Maslan said he expected at least a 10 per cent increase in sales. About RM54.4 million potential sales were secured during the business-matching meetings held alongside Intrade 2016, which kicked off on Nov 2, he said at a press conference held in conjunction with Intrade 2016. "(Actual) sales recorded yesterday (Wednesday) alone hit US$8.99 million (RM37.6 million)," he said. The event, which ends on Nov 5, also features the Malaysia Fashion Week. On the business-matching meetings, Ahmad said the sessions involved 288 Malaysian companies and international buyers from 24 countries, of which the top foreign buyers were from Qatar, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Thailand and Kazakhstan. "This year's event has attracted 308 participants compared with 280 last year, and the number of participating countries also increased to 24 from 15 last year," he said. Furthermore, he said the number of designers involved in the Fashion Week also doubled to 120 this year, of whom about 70 per cent are locals. "As all the numbers have increased this year, coupled with more aggressive promotions done this time around, we are very upbeat that sales will surpass last year's value," he said. Meanwhile, Ahmad said the ministry was eyeing a 10 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in lifestyle and fashion products, also known as soft exports, for 2016 despite the challenging global economic conditions. "Last year, soft exports rose by 13.2 per cent to RM36.9 billion versus RM32.6 billion previously. "The sector continues to register a steady growth of 5.3 per cent y-o-y to RM24.7 billion in the first eight months of 2016 against RM23.5 billion in the same period last year," he added. --BERNAMA