By Voon Miaw Ping
KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Poland has been actively seeking to promote Malaysia as an export destination for its entrepreneurs keen to expand their markets abroad.
Head of Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PITA) in Kuala Lumpur, Przemyslaw Zareba, said Malaysia is an ideal market for premium Polish products in this region due to several factors such as its robust economic growth, its population’s high disposable income, and its consumers’ enthusiastic reception towards new products.
“We are promoting Malaysia as a premium market, and actively encourage our manufacturers in four industries to look to Malaysia for new business opportunities,” he told Bernama International News Service in an interview at his office, here.
Among the products it is seeking market are cosmetics, food, medical devices and pharmaceuticals as well as furniture.
However, Zareba took note of the need for consumer products, especially foodstuffs and cosmetics, to be halal-compliant in order to be successfully marketed in a Muslim-majority country like Malaysia.
“One of the obstacles is halal certification. So we support our manufacturers in educating them on what is halal, and the halal system here.
“Secondly, we help them by connecting them with the right body in Malaysia, for example, JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) or the Department of Veterinary Services.
“Poland is very well known in Europe for quality food and we want to capitalise on this. So, selling more to Malaysia would definitely be based on halal certification. That is why we consider this as an important part,” he said.
PITA is a state-owned organisation specifically set up by the Polish government in July 2017 to promote Polish trade and businesses overseas, facilitate entrepreneurs’ forays into new markets abroad, and also tasked with attracting foreign investments to Poland.
Zareba said that Poland’s rapid economic growth has prompted the government to encourage Polish exporters and manufacturers to venture into new business opportunities beyond Europe, with the ASEAN region’s population of 650 million harbouring a vast market potential.
Poland, a country of 38 million people, is currently the 24th biggest economy in the world and the seventh largest in the European Union.
The economy of the Central European nation is one of the most resilient in the continent, with a GDP growth of 5.1 per cent recorded in 2018.
Zareba said as part of its promotional campaign, FTO in Kuala Lumpur has lined up two trade missions from Poland to Malaysia this year, starting with the first one in July involving industry players from the Polish cosmetic industry.
“We are bringing in 10 to 12 cosmetic companies to come here in July, where they will participate in B2B (business to business) meetings with local trade organisations and business associations here.
“We are also arranging for them to connect with local distributors and chain stores to talk about the possibilities of marketing their products here,” he said.
Some renowned Polish cosmetic brands include Inglot, Eveline Cosmetics, Bielenda, Dermedics International, Ziaja, Naturativ, and Organique.
A mission for medical devices manufacturers and the pharmaceutical industry will follow in September, while a plan for the third trade mission is also being worked out for the players from the Polish food industry to visit Malaysia in November or December this year.
— NNN-BERNAMA
