KUCHING: Eligible Sarawakian companies are encouraged to participate in the Bumiputera, Women and Youth Exporters Development Programme (BWYEDP) under the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).
Noreen Che Mid, manager of Matrade’s BWYEDP Unit, said that from BWYEDP’s inception in 2004 up until now, there were only 15 companies from Sarawak out of a cumulative total of 402 companies nationwide which had participated in the programme thus far.
“We have been working closely with the Matrade Sarawak office to find more companies which have the potential to enter this programme,” she said, urging eligible Sarawakian companies to contact Matrade and obtain an application form for the programme.
She said 402 companies had participated in BWYEDP thus far since 2004, adding that 324 companies had graduated from the three-year programme while 78 were still currently undergoing it.
“Up until now, we have recorded 907 trade promotion activities which were participated in by companies in this programme,” she said during a webinar entitled ‘Export Incentives and Exporters Development Programme by Matrade’ organised by Matrade via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday (Nov 16).
She explained that BWYEDP was an export facilitation programme targeting three groups namely Bumiputera, women, and youth. She said the programme started in 2004, focusing on just Bumiputera at the time, before expanding to cover women in 2005 and then youth in 2014.
“Selected companies will undergo the programme for three years, and one of the objectives under this programme is to nurture potential Bumiputera, women, and youth entrepreneurs to explore the international market.
“We also hope that by having this programme, we will be able to create a pool of competitive and resilient exporters.”
She said eligibility criteria for BWYEDP included being registered as a Matrade member, completing the Export Readiness Assessment Tool (Erat), and being registered under the Companies Act 2016 as a private limited company or ‘Sendirian Berhad (Sdn Bhd).
She added that eligible companies would also be at least 51 per cent owned by Bumiputera, women, or youth (in the age group of 20 to 40 years) as well as having been in operation for at least three years in the domestic market and being export-ready.
She said companies participating in BWYEDP would enjoy benefits such as sponsored participation in three physical or virtual international trade promotion activities per year or a maximum of RM100,000 (whichever is lower), complimentary participation in Matrade Exporters Training sessions, and complimentary exhibition space in Malaysia Export Exhibition Centre (MEEC) for a period of 12 months.
She said after completing the three-year programme, participating companies were expected to be able to penetrate at least two new markets and increase export sales by 20 percent.
“This is to provide a benchmark for Matrade to see how far the companies have grown, in hopes that the sessions given throughout the programme have provided the opportunity for these companies to enhance their experience and knowledge in export sales.”
Those interested in the programme can contact the BWYEDP Unit via email (bwyedp@matrade.gov.my) or phone (+603-62077077).
