Market linkers help Malaysian SME products penetrate European supermarkets - Ewon

16 March 2024

By Wartawan Nabalu News

BERLIN: The role of market linkers is crucial in helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Malaysia penetrate supermarkets in Europe and other continents.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDC), Datuk Ewon Benedick, expressed appreciation for the Malaysian market linkers who have successfully helped market the country's SME products in international supermarket chains.

He stated that the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDC) has plans to develop market linker programs in several countries, and detailed proposals will be presented at the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) meeting next month.

"In essence, this proposal has been brought to the National Entrepreneur and SME Development Council, and the details of this program proposal will be presented at the MTEN meeting next month.

"This proposal aims to help export and position Malaysian SME products in the global supermarket chains identified and negotiated by market linkers.

"At present, MEDC has the Bumiputera Go Global program under SME Corp and the Business Export Program under SME Bank. We want to expand these existing programs by proposing the Market Linker Program initiative so that our country's products have a permanent presence in global supermarkets," he said.

Ewon made these remarks during a dialogue session with market linkers and German SME business owners in Berlin.

Earlier, Ewon and the MEDC delegation visited Go Asia Supermarket, which markets six Malaysian SME products, and then proceeded to the Market Hall Berlin to assess the potential for marketing Malaysian SME products.

The visit and dialogue session were jointly organised by SME Corp Malaysia and Dreiha Handels, the market linking agency in Berlin.

During the dialogue, Ewon also introduced six Malaysian SME companies and franchises that participated in the Berlin SME Future Day Expo to the attending German business owners for potential cooperation and business matching.