ID :
173601
Wed, 04/06/2011 - 16:55
Auther :

MATRADE TO IMPOSE STRINGENT GUIDELINES FOR POTENTIAL MIHAS EXHIBITORS

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) will impose more stringent guidelines in selecting companies to participate in the next Malaysia International Halal Showcase (Mihas).
Matrade's chief executive officer Noharuddin Nordin said it would give more priority to companies which are in the position to export a high standard of halal products and services.
"Foreign buyers want to meet local companies that are able to fulfill international orders and most of the time the orders are quite big," he told Bernama in an interview.
Matrade was quite relaxed in the past when choosing the companies wishing to exhibit, and hence there were companies that participated just to sell their products during the exhibition and not to export, Noharuddin said.
"That is good in the sense that we get the numbers but not good when international buyers come and we can't fulfill their need," he said.
He said most international exhibitions, for example, in the US and Germany emphasized on "business to business" opportunities and networking.
However, Noharuddin said companies that aspire to grow much faster than their market growth rate would still be allowed to participate.
"Malaysia wants to become the top class halal hub and companies that represent us in Mihas also have to reflect that," he said.
A total of 259 local companies are participating in the Eighth International Halal Showcase (Mihas 2011) which starts Wednesday.
Mihas 2011, being held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, is open to trade and business visitors from Thursday until April 8 while the general public can visit it on April 9.
Matrade has brought in 552 foreign buyers from 49 countries for the event and has also arranged 5,204 meetings between them and 607 Malaysian companies.
At last year's event, Malaysian companies recorded RM70 million (US$23.33 million) in immediate sales and RM114 million (US$4.66 million) in potential sales.
Noharuddin said local companies must continue to strengthen their export capacity.
"Companies especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can no longer depend on the traditional way of running a company. Some of them fail because they focus too much on making the product.
"They have to manage their business well, such as, in the area of finances, workers and supply of raw materials to success," he added.

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