Bernama, Malaysia
By Manik Mehta
FRANKFURT, Jan 19 (Bernama) — Contrary to the widespread perception in Malaysia’s business circles, the country’s textile sector, which is a shadow of its past glory because of rising costs and in competitiveness, is not a “sunset industry”.
Indeed, the textile industry should be promoted and encouraged to flourish, experts say.
This is the verdict of a number of experts at the ongoing Heimtextil trade fair of Frankfurt, the world’s biggest event for the home-textile industry.
A single Malaysian company called Recron (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd of Kuala Lumpur, is displaying its textile and textile-based products, even though there are huge contingents of exhibitors from other — even more expensive — Asian supplying countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
“I don’t think it is a sunset industry,” Raja Badrulnizam Raja Kamalyam, Malaysia’s trade commissioner told Bernama when asked whether Malaysia’s textile industry was a “sunset industry”.
“The problem, in my personal view, is that many Malaysian textile companies are probably not aware of this fair or they are deterred by the high costs of participation.
But this is also the fair where you meet not only German but also many foreign buyers.
It’s also one way to make yourself known to international buyers, particularly at a time of recession.
By participating in a trade fair, you also strengthen your foothold within the market,” he argued.
Recession has, of course, hit Asian exports. Some Asian exhibitors at the Frankfurt trade fair appeared depressed by the market downturn which is having a disastrous effect on their exports.
Raja Badrul described the Heimtextil as an “eye opener” for those wanting to enter a sophisticated market. He said he would urge Malaysia’s textile association and other organisations to send a “fact-finding mission” to the Heimtextil because of the inherent business potential in the event.
“Even though Germans are not spending as much as they used to as a result of the economic uncertainties, you can find many foreign buyers at shows such as the Heimtextil. While many experts expect the recession to continue for sometime, you have to position yourself in the market when the recession is over,” he said.
Olaf Schmidt, vice president (textile fairs) of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, which organises the Heimtextil show, was equally perplexed by Malaysia’s low-key presence at the show.
“After all, Heimtextil is the international platform for export contacts.
If Malaysia’s textile industry wants to succeed, it cannot ignore the Heimtextil event, despite the global economic crisis which is making companies resort to austerity measures, including job cuts.
But such austerity measures should not exclude participation in trade fairs,” Schmidt emphasized in an interview with Bernama.
Even as many recession-plagued countries have had disastrous sales before and during the Christmas season, when consumer buying is at peak, the Christmas season in Germany had been “satisfactory”, according to Schmidt.
Meanwhile, Raja Badrul released figures for German-Malaysian two-way trade from January to October 2014. Malaysia’s imports from Germany for the first 10 months of 2014 rose by 4.4 per cent to US$4.89 billion while Malaysian exports to Germany during the same period went up by 3.9 per cent to US$3.98 billion.
Malaysia has been able to assert its position as ASEAN’s number one exporter to Germany and, on an overall basis, Germany’s 37th biggest trading partner worldwide during the January to October 2014 period, according to Malaysia’s trade commissioner.
Malaysia’s main exports to Germany include electronic and electrical products, electrical machines, printers, machinery parts and components, rubber products and optical lenses.
— BERNAMA
