KUALA LUMPUR: The aggressive trade and promotional efforts of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) should elevate Malaysia to 20th spot amongst the world’s largest exporting countries in the next two to three years.
This will be done through the aggressive push for the 150 programmes lined up this year to promote Malaysian businesses abroad.
This was announced by MATRADE chief executive officer Datuk Dzulkifli Mahmud at the launch of the 'CelebExports' programme, with local celebrity Neelofa.
He said Neelofa, whose multi-million ringgit hijab export business is an example of MATRADE's efforts to tap into the business potential of celebrities, exemplifies the effort to promote a broader range of Malaysian goods and services internationally.
Neelofa said her range of hijabs rake in RM5 million in online sales, generating RM2.1 million of that amount in countries like France, Norway, UAE, UK, and Saudi Arabia.
Dzulkifli explained that Neelofa was chosen to frontline the celebrity-targeted programme because of her huge following on social media.
Malaysia currently holds 23rd spot (according to the 2015 ranking) in the World Trade Organisation's list of the world’s top exporting countries.