Only 28 Per Cent Of 17,500 Malaysia's Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Involved In Export - Matrade

KUANTAN (Pahang, Malaysia), Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Only 28 per cent of 17,500 Bumiputera (indigenous Malaysian) entrepreneurs, who are registered with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), are exporting their products. MATRADE chief executive officer Dzulkifli Mahmud said the number was rather small and should be increased in order to expand the country's exports. "Entrepreneurs need to become more competitive in order to sell their products abroad and we encourage entrepreneurs, especially Bumiputera from rural areas to export their products," he told a news conference after launching an entrepreneurship programme themed 'From Village to the World Market' here Sunday. Dzulkifli said the programme was aimed at enlightening Bumiputera entrepreneurs on business opportunities overseas and nurture more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to make foray abroad. MATRADE, the national trade promotion agency aims to increase exports from the SME sector to surge from 17.6 per cent to 23 per cent by 2020, he said. --BERNAMA