【Canton Fair Story】Zaimah Osman: An Open Canton Fair Brings More Business Opportunities to Malaysian Companies

Guangzhou, May 8 (Xinhua) -- “It is the 15th time that Malaysian companies participate in the Canton Fair in the form of a national pavilion. The Canton Fair is a strategic platform for Malaysia to promote foreign trade. By participating in it, Malaysia will better establish its image as a ‘supplier of reliable and high quality products and services’ and meet the needs of the China market or even the world market. It is fair to say that the Canton Fair is an iconic exhibition that Malaysia ‘clocks in every year’”, said Zaimah Osman, Commercial Consul of Malaysia in Guangzhou, in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.com.

The Canton Fair Brings Malaysian Companies to theWorld Stage

Malaysia is one of the first countries to respond to the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Its development has been accelerated in the process of jointly building the initiative. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, in 2013, Malaysia became the first country in ASEAN to trade more than 100 billion USD with China.

Zaimah Osman said: “I’ve learned from Malaysianexhibitors that some of them have successfully obtained orders at this sessionof Canton Fair. For example, on May 1, a buyer from Hong Kong, China placed anorder for two containers with a Malaysian exhibitor. After attending the 124thCanton Fair last year, a buyer from the US ordered four containers of goods. Thesefeedback prove that Malaysian exhibitors are satisfied with participating inthe event. I think the Canton Fair is an international platform, on which exhibitorscan access buyers from all over the world, and buyers can buy commodities fromall over the world.”

Seize the Opportunities Brought by China’s ConsumptionUpgrading at the Canton Fair

Zaimah, who has been working in Guangzhou for more than three years, likes dim sum, wonton noodles and other delicious foods. She is pleasantly surprised to find that Malaysia’s food and beverages are also very popular in Guangdong. In recent years, Malaysia’s food and health products have been exported to China and the world via the Canton Fair.

Recently, Zaimah organized over 20 Malaysian companies to participate in the Phase 3 of the 125th Canton Fair via Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation. The companies highlighted the promotion of Malaysian food, beverages, health products, cosmetics and household items in International Pavilion.

“Our food and beverages are very popular among Chinese buyers. People can purchase Malaysian white coffee, durian, tea and other specialty products at the Canton Fair,” said Zaimah.

In International Pavilion, the reporter noticed a Malaysian company that sells coffee. Its counters were neatly placed with boxes of coffee, with small Chinese and Malaysian flags alongside. QR codes of “Alipay” and “WeChat payment” were put among the coffee.

The person in charge told the reporter: “Compared with general popular beverages, we are more willing to focus on high-end health drinks. China’s huge middle-income group shows growing demand for healthy foods and beverages. This time at the Canton Fair, we mainly want to find the connection between production plants and dealers, namely to look for reliable agents in China. Fortunately, we have encountered a relatively mature buyer from Taiwan.”

In recent years, the continuous optimization of business environment in Guangdong has enabled many Malaysian companies to come to Foshan and Dongguan to set up warehouses and production bases for furniture and lighting products. They are optimistic about the consumer market in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and want to share opportunities brought by “created in Guangdong” transformation and upgrading.

According to the information from the Canton Fair Press Center, International Pavilion was set up in the 101st session. It is open to overseas exhibitors, and has embraced over 13,000 exhibitors/times from more than 100 countries and regions so far.