KOTA KINABALU: Seven companies from Sabah will be participating in the Gulfood 2020 exhibition, said Deputy Chief Minister cum State Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
“We are sending seven companies from Sabah and we will only be paying for the exhibition lots there. Five of the companies are sponsored by DIDR while another two are previous participants of Gulfood exhibitions.
“Like before, the objective of this entry is for these local companies to exhibit their products to get at least five agents and distributors in Dubai and orders for local products worth RM3 million.”
He said this to the media on the participation of the Department of Industrial Research and Development (DIDR) in the Gulfood 2020 exhibition which will be held from Feb 16-20 in Dubai, UAE.
Tangau said Sabahan companies who have been selected to participate in the exhibition already have their own private limited companies and are registered with Matrade.
“We want more such Sabahan companies to register with Matrade as it will provide assistance in term of grants for international market penetration.”
Through Gulfood 2019, several Sabahan SME products have already penetrated the markets of foreign countries such as UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Samoa, Mauritius and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The latest Gulfood 2019 reports show 121 containers of Sabah products worth more than RM3 million exported to middle eastern countries.
Tangau said DIDR will also collaborate with Persatuan Usahawan Maju Malaysia (PUMM) to develop entrepreneurs with potential in Sabah to train and will choose the best 100 companies by the end of the year.
“Hopefully in 10 years we will be able to produce 1,000 such entrepreneurs from Sabah. We want our local entrepreneurs to upscale their companies.
“This year our focus is on development of SME creation. We see SME companies as economic growth engines. We have to do it ourselves and hope to increase output from Sabah the number of containers.
“Other than sales, we also want to see the number of container orders. We will facilitate so that entrepreneurs will receive what they need, including raw materials and consistent quality and we will go to the relevant ministry (such as the Agriculture Ministry) to explain this matter to them.”
He said another important aspect is food certification such as halal.
“This is something we are looking into and how to facilitate with the relevant agencies so it can be simplified, hastened and improved.
“We are also looking into setting up a standards council for Sabah. At the moment there is no standard development agency for Sabah as all are federal.”
