During a meeting with Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft on 25 May 2010, MITI Minister agreed to explore the formation of a Joint Task Force to complement ongoing efforts to increase the level of technology adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia.“I am pleased that Mr. Ballmer and Microsoft have taken this initiative to work with us. I believe that this joint task force will serve as an important component of our broader efforts to improve Malaysia’s productivity and competitiveness in order to improve the standard of living for all Malaysians.” Said YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed. The scope of the Joint Task Force will include training programmes and outreach activities, among others. One of the focal points of the Task Force will be to create a conducive environment in Malaysia for spreading cloud computing - a technology that makes business computing capabilities available to usersat minimal upfront costs over...

We at MITI strongly support and eagerly await the upcoming 13th Annual SME Innovation Showcase SMIDEX 2010, organised by SME Corp. This year’s theme “Pioneering Business Transformation through Innovation” is in line with the New Economic Model (NEM)’s approach of holistic development and growth- ultimately growing from small companies into those with the potential to break into global markets. The showcase aims to promote innovative products and services in developing competitive and resilient SMEs in Malaysia, focusing on four exciting areas: Innovation in Technology Innovation in Packaging & Design  Green Technology & Energy Efficiency  Halal Products and Services Regarded as one of the premier and most reputable business “one stop” events for SMEs to network and market their innovative products and services among SMEs, large companies and MNCs, SMEs can now explore new market opportunities and technologies to better enhance their capacity and enterprise. The...

 

Para peniaga kecil dan sederhana (PKS) tidak perlu risau dengan penukaran bantuan Kerajaan daripada pemberian geran kepada pinjaman mudah kerana pelbagai pendekatan baru akan diperkenalkan oleh Kerajaan bagi membantu para peniaga. Demikian penjelasan Timbalan Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, YB Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Mahathir mengenai perkara tersebut. Pemansuhan bantuan geran bagi membantu PKS dengan digantikan dengan skim pinjaman mudah diumumkan oleh YAB Perdana Menteri semasa majlis perasmian SMIDEX 2010 baru-baru ini. Skim pinjaman mudah ini antara lain akan membentuk kredibiliti yang lebih tinggi di kalangan PKS selain membuka lebih banyak peluang kepada syarikat-syarikat PKS menikmati skim pinjaman tersebut. Teks ucapan YAB Perdana Menteri pada majlis perasmian SMIDEX 2010 telah dibacakan oleh Menteri MITI, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed.

The demand for halal food in Russia is growing partly attributed to the large Muslim population, estimated in the region of 25 million or 18% of Russia’s 140 million people. Moscow city itself has the largest Muslim population amongst the European cities with 2 million people. There is vast opportunity for Malaysian companies to export halal products and services to Russia and CIS countries in view of the growing Muslim population. In 2009, the Russian Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology registered a halal System which identifies the compliance of food products and medicines within Islamic law and principles. Furthermore, under the platform of Russia Mufties Council, a group of independent experts established a working group to facilitate the development and implementation of Islamic financial services in Russia. As a result of that, in February 2010, the Russian Association of Islamic Financing Experts (RAIFE) was formed. In the last few years, there had been...

“Kudos to all of you for rightfully choosing Malaysia as your preferred investment destination!” Having said that, we would like to highlight a few key points on why Malaysia remains an ideal destination for Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). Among the things that have helped put Malaysia on the international investors radar includes:

After all the hard work, it is heartening to note that Malaysia has made it to thetop 10 most competitive nations list in a recent report by the acclaimed...

  The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) which was launched yesterday, 10 June 2010, will serve as a focal point and coordination centre for the development of the local automotive industry. The institute was established based on the recommendations outlaid in theThird Industrial Master Plan (IMP3) 2006-2020 to assist and further enhance MITI’s support in developing the local industry. It would be a coordination centre for all matters related to automotive industry, including : formulating national automotive policy, managing manpower development programme,  formulating and coordinating automotive related research and development. An independent non-profit organisation under MITI’s custodianship, MAI will have more focused and streamlined activities proposed for it under the 10th Malaysia Plan. MAI will focus on strategic research, with sub-functions covering market intelligence and outreach and capacity building that encompasses technology...

MITI through its agency, MIDA, has successfully drawn potential investments worth more than RM 10 billion in Q1 of 2010. MIDA’s investment missions have succeeded in procuring and negotiating for investments from countries across continents and new investments are currently in the process of negotiation. Major areas of interest are in the: Solar Industry MIDA and US and China-based solar specialist companies negotiate for potential investments valued at an estimated RM 5 billion. Manufacturing & Engineering Support (MES) Industry Potential investments are targeted for the oil well completion equipments and umbillicals (diversification projects). Transport Industry Interest to invest in projects on MRO composite repair, MRO for aircraft components, seats for aerospace industry and aircraft machine parts. The strong interest is attributed to MIDA’s: 

MITI mensasarkan seramai 20 pengeksport Bumiputera dilahirkan setiap tahun menerusi program GroomBig. Pada masa ini, seramai 1,040 usahawan GroomBig sedang dibimbing oleh MITI. GroomBig atau Program Peningkatan Kualiti Produk dan Perkhidmatan ini telah diberi nafas baru dengan lebih banyak program peringkat lebih tinggi diatur untuk membantu usahawan yang dikenal pasti memasuki pasaran eksport. Sebahagian barangan dihasilkan sudah memasuki pasaran luar negara menerusi kerjasama yang dijalinkan bersama beberapa syarikat perdagangan dan pemasaran di seluruh dunia. Antara syarikat rakan perdagangan MITI termasuk yang berada di Filipina, Dubai, Ireland, Vietnam, Kemboja, dan Britain. Melalui kerjasama strategik ini, barangan usahawan yang dibimbing melalui program GroomBig ini mampu menembusi pasaran negara berkenaan. Usahawan-usahawan GroomBig akan diberi pendedahan dari segi kemudahan khidmat nasihat, kursus dan khidmat rundingan perniagaan dalam pelbagai...

Malaysia’s overall exports under the FTA preferential schemes during the first quarter 2010 have shown improvement. On 1 January 2010 Malaysia implemented ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) and ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). During the first quarter of 2010, Malaysia issued a total of 76,929 preferential COs with exports valued at RM22 billion to ASEAN Member States, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Pakistan, India, Australia and New Zealand, registering an increase of 43.9% in the number of preferential COs and 53.2% in FOB value compared with the corresponding period of 2009. With a total FOB value of RM8.5 billion, Malaysia’s exports under AFTA recorded the highest value among the eight FTA preferential schemes in 2010. It was followed by AKFTA (RM6.2 billion), ACFTA (RM3.1 billion), MJEPA (RM1.9 billion), MPCEPA (RM1.3 billion), AJCEP (RM473 million), AANZFTA (RM365 million) and AIFTA (RM252 million). The overall export...