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YB DATO' MUKHRIZ MAHATHIR
DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY
OFFICIATING THE LAUNCHING OF DURUKAN
23RD DECEMBER 2010 (THURSDAY)
MYDIN MALL, SUBANG JAYA
Her Excellency Serap Altaay,
Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia;
Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Ameer Ali Mydin,
Managing Director of Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad;
Mr. Mohd Azul Shah,
Group CEO of Haltex Group Sdn Bhd;
Mr. Ozgur Biyikli,
Sales Director of Durukan, Turkey;
Mr. Kevin Jesudess,
Commercial Director of Venture Distribution Sdn Bhd;
Mr. Hasan Onal,
Trade Commissioner of Turkish Embassy;
Members of the Media;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Assalamualaikum W.B.T, Salam 1Malaysia and MEHR-hah-bah (Hello).
1. I would like to firstly thank the organisers for their kind invitation for me to officiate this event today. I was delighted as today’s event marks the actualisation of the very many initiatives that the Government has embarked upon. Today’s product launching of the popular lollipop brand Durukan, made in Turkey which will be distributed in all Mydin Hypermarket through the local partnership and distribution mechanism of Venture Distribution Sdn Bhd and its parent company, Haltex Group Sdn Bhd, is a significant milestone in providing another market access link between two countries, Malaysia and Turkey. To paraphrase our Right Honourable Prime Minister who aims to create smart and effective partnerships between the public and private sector to drive our nation’s economic transformation agenda.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2. In the spirit of our gathering here today, allow me to elaborate on the Malaysian Government’s efforts by its ‘Business Matching Programme’ – between SMEs and hypermarkets.
3. For the year 2010, SME Corp had organised 5 business matching events during the Groom Big and Satu Daerah Satu Industri (SDSI) programmes which were held in selected states namely Perak, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Putrajaya and Melaka. Consequently, a total of 116 companies with a forecasted sales figure of RM 11 million from 206 sessions were matched. The active participation of hypermarkets in the said business matching events has helped SMEs in taking their business to another level. SMEs have climbed the learning curve and know the do’s and dont’s when dealing with MNCs particularly in the retail sector. As a direct result from the business matching succeses that SME Corp has under its belt – they have decided to organise the ‘SME Brands Carnival’ next year in selected hypermarkets. The hope of this carnival is to produce greater strategic public-private sector collaboration.
4. Furthermore, in line with the Government’s stated objectives to assist the development of SMEs and to nurture growing brands to become major brands, MITI and its agencies such as SME Corporation Malaysia and MATRADE have put in place an integrated approach for the development of brands among Malaysian companies especially SMEs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
5. To raise the awareness on the importance of branding as a means of gaining competitive advantages as well as gaining market share, the SME Brand Development Programme is a programme which seeks to enhance the visibility of SMEs products and services. Through this programme, we would like to change the unfounded and at times prejudicial perception amongst some segments of consumers that local SME products are of low quality, unreliable and of poor packaging standards when compared to the well-known brands. In this context I’d like to delve further into one of the components of the ‘SME Brand Development Programme’ which is the National Mark of Malaysian Brand.
6. For your information, to qualify, a company must satisfy the minimum 3 star requirement under the SME Corp’s SME Competitive Rating For Enhancement programme or better known as SCORE. SCORE is a tool used to measure the performance and capabilities of SMEs. Participating companies will go through a stringent process of auditing and monitoring to ensure conformity to the set standards. Deserving companies will be awarded with the National Mark for their products and services and given the right to use this Mark for a period of two years. In this way, it is hoped that strong Malaysian brands will attain success not just in the local market but in international markets as well.
7. Companies awarded with the National Mark will be accorded priority to participate in all trade missions organised by MATRADE as well as special passes to programmes organised by SME Corp and its partners. One such programme that I’d like to highlight here is the ‘Mentoring Programme’ developed by the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI), which is designed to assist local companies to enhance their competency in business. This programme comprises of on-site training and seminars which involves 12 MNC experts as mentors.
Honourable Guests,
8. The National Mark of Malaysian Brand was launched last year by the Regent of Perak, His Royal Highness Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah on the 2nd of March 2009 at the The Brand Entrepreneur Conference (BEC) 2009. This year, the BEC 2010 was held with the theme ‘Global Malaysian Brands, Towards The Next Decade’ and His Royal Highness The Regent of Perak also graced the event and presented the Malaysian Brand Certificate and Trophy to 14 winning companies.
9. Another component of the SME Brand Development programme is the ‘Brand Innovation Centre’ (BIC) which is a collaboration between SME Corp and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) with the objective of facilitating and guiding SMEs in meeting the challeges in the future. The BIC is actually a gallery that displays world class innovative designs to inspire SMEs. For further knowledge enhancement, workshops are conducted at the BIC from time-to-time. I am told that about 280 SMEs have benefitted from such workshops this year.
10. Lastly, in an effort to create greater awareness on the importance of effective branding, the Branding and Packaging Mobile Gallery unit was set up in March this year. This Mobile Gallery, for the benefit of those who haven’t seen it, is a bus fitted with selected display that sends a strong message to SMEs on the importance of effective branding. The Mobile Gallery unit has thus far traveled to 19 locations in this year alone attracting more than 2800 participants to its programmes.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
11. Before I take my leave, I would like to commend all the parties involved in today’s launch. In particular, I would like to once again extend my sincere appreciation to Her Excellency Serap Ataay and I hope that we can reciprocate this gesture at an opportune time. I also look forward to increased trade and investment ties between Malaysia and Turkey. It is a subject that has enormous potential for our two nations.
12. And so, without further ado, I hereby launch the popular lollipop brand Durukan, made in Turkey and distributed in Malaysia.
Thank you. |
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