M'SIA CONFIRMS PARTICIPATION IN TASTE OF LONDON

From Amer Hamzah Md Sap

LONDON, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has confirmed participation as guest
country for the "Taste of London" festival, which will be held at Regent's Park
here from June 17 to 20, Malaysian High Commisioner to the United Kingdom and
Northern Ireland, Abd Aziz Mohamed, said Monday.

He said preparation for participation in the event, which brings together a
selection of world famous London restaurants in a unique outdoor food and drink
festival, were now undertaken by the Malaysia External Trade Development
Corporation (Matrade) in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia and other relevant
agencies.

As a prelude to the event, he said, Malaysia participated in the "Taste of
Christmas" on Dec 4-8 last year at Excel, here.

Three prominent Malaysian restaurants -- Awana, Jom Makan and Delima
-- showcased a selection of Malaysian signature dishes, he said at the launch of
the 2010 Malaysia Kitchen Campaign at Jom Makan Westfield here.

The campaign was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is
on a five-day official visit here, by launching the Malaysia Kitchen website and
logo for London.

Malaysia Kitchen is a programme aimed at promoting Malaysian restaurants
overseas, enabling people from different parts of the world to share the
pleasure of enjoying the wide variety of exotic Malaysian cuisines.

Abd Aziz said the focus of the promotion this year would be on London and
New York to take advantage of the number of restaurants in both markets.

Currently, he said, there are 62 Malaysian restaurants in the United Kingdom
and 120 in the United States. "We are confident that these numbers will provide
a critical mass to promote Malaysian restaurants in these two cities.

"We believe that both cities would serve as the catalyst to promote and gain
confidence from restaurant operators to add more Malaysia dishes to their menu,"
he said.

He said the people in these two cities would be the trendsetters for
Malaysian cuisine to have greater chances of success.

"Malaysia can be the new Asian taste."

He said the campaign would promote the participating restaurants in public
relations initiatives which included reviews by well-known personalities, travel
writers, novelists and evaluation by international restaurant rating agencies.

A Malaysia Kitchen Portal was also being created which would list Malaysian
restaurants around the world and serve as a social site for visitors to interact
on Malaysian restaurants and cuisine.

It would also be exposed in international gastronomic events such as trade
shows, cookery programmes and demonstrations, he said, adding that Malaysia
Kitchen also provided access to financing facilities from Exim Bank Malaysia for
restaurant expansions and start-ups overseas.

The promotions were developed for all types of restaurants, from fine
dining, bistroand cafe fast food to takeaways to cater for all market segments,
he said.

"This will include connoisseurs, young executives, students, tourists,
families and office workers.

"By covering all touch points, we believe the spillover effects for tourism
and market entry for Malaysian food products will be further enhanced," he said.
-- BERNAMA