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Malaysia to welcome North West trade delegates

A North West trade delegation will set off to Malaysia today, headed up by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) North West.

Eleven businesses will join the ten day mission, which will also visit Burma, including Manchester firms Far East Consulting, Worldway Technologies and Spirit SSR, Connect Medical Systems from Oldham, Data Ind from Rochdale and European Diesel Services from Wigan.

Cheshire-based businesses Chase International, DG Thompson International, Boldon James and UK Language Courses (UKLC) will also join the trip, as well as Vistage International from Stoke.

Bdaily spoke to the head of Asia Pacific business at UKTI North West, Philomena Chen, ahead of the visit to ask about the North West-Malaysia relationship, and how she hopes it will develop.

She commented: “From the trade side in terms of exporting more and also finding strategic partnerships on the ground, it’s very important and I see it moving in a very positive light. For me I can only see the positives.

“If you look at Pinang and Kuala Lumpur, they are trying to make it more integrated. That offers a lot of challenges, but hey, look at where we are in terms of Greater Manchester.

“The model of what we have in Greater Manchester, with 10 local authorities- that’s something that adds more value because its so integrated in that sense.”

Ms Chen went on to talk about the types of companies on the trade mission, and what they are hoping to achieve:

“We’re talking about very small companies [on the mission]. Increasingly we’re beginning to find a number of companies who are already set up and want to export.

“But it’s more to do with the individuals, the owners, who’ve got capabilities and want to diversify in a different way.”

Adrian Todd, director at Connect Medical Systems, who will join the delegation on Friday, said: “We’re already exporting to Malaysia, which we’ve been doing for around 25 years.

“At the moment we’re looking at setting up an office in Malaysia. We’re hoping to look at some property and get some new, high-level contacts within the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and we’re also looking to see whether or not we can get some advice on what we’re already doing.”

Also joining the visit, Ian Hu from Spirit SSR commented: “We’re new to Malaysia. We’re a modest company, we started life as a commercial recording studio.

“We weren’t international at all until 2011, and we were approached by an acoustics company in Indonesia who said they want to set up a franchise license. So that happened and was a phenomenal success.

“We then went to Singapore and did exactly the same thing. I went out to Kuala Lumpur for the first time two months ago, literally cold calling. I think we spoke to about four companies, and all of them have asked me to come back. So that’s encouraging.

“This trip for me is to sort the men from the boys, find out who really is serious about this and then for us to effectively let them start the bidding process.”

Ms Chen added: “South East Asia offers huge opportunities for UK goods and services. It is a strategic region where economic growth and development is expected to exceed the global average for the foreseeable future.

“The region’s economy is predicted to grow by over 5% in 2013, making it one of the key emerging markets.

“This trade mission is to help North West companies maximise their business opportunities in Malaysia and Burma, working closely with partners in both countries.

“The North West has an incredible pool of talent and some fantastic businesses, and we hope to help them make the most of their international potential by introducing them to customers, agents and distributors in South East Asia.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .