Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further strengthen existing alliances and strategic cooperation between both agencies.

The MoU aims to better facilitate the current and export ready Malaysian tech companies in strengthening their global footprint through more concerted and collaborative trade promotion initiatives, the agencies said in a joint statement on Monday.

The MoU was signed by Mohd Mustafa Abdul, CEO of MATRADE and Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of MDEC. MATRADE’s Senior Board member, Hazimah Zainuddin witnessed the MOU Exchange Ceremony, which took place at the side-line of MATRADE’s International Sourcing Programme (INSP) held in conjunction with Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) 2023 today at Menara MATRADE.

According to MATRADE’s CEO, Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, the MoU will result in greater level of collaboration between both agencies, which in turn will accelerate the transformation of local tech champions into global players.

This is in line with the objective of the newly launched New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030, which was recently launched by Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. “NIMP among others focusses on the government’s mission to get Malaysian businesses to embrace technology and digitalisation to drive innovation, enhance productivity and create new opportunities for economic growth,” Mohd Mustafa pointed out.

Under the newly launched New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP2030), digital and ICT has been identified as one of the five key focus sectors that could help enhance Malaysia’s exports of more complex products and services.

As such, he added, there is a need for agencies like MATRADE and MDEC to further streamline our initiatives and embrace a whole nation approach in our promotion abroad.

“Under MDEC’s Malaysia Digital (MD) Catalytic Programmes (PEMANGKIN), we promote nine sectors, which we believe can drive high-value digital export and provide a launchpad for tech companies to expand globally. To nurture and facilitate a business-friendly digital ecosystem, we are collaborating with various partners, and one of them is MATRADE”, said Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, Chief Executive Officer of MDEC.

MDEC expects high-tech Malaysian companies to generate $55M in digital export