Nigerian, Malaysia promote trade with Hybrid B2B

In its bid to promote trade between Nigeria and Malaysia, Trade Commissioner of Malaysia in Lagos, Mohd Khairy Maidin and Michael Aderohunmu, president of Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council (NMBC), have successfully organised a ‘Hybrid B2B’ meeting session between 50 Nigerian businesses with 16 Malaysian exporters.

The programme held recently at Radisson Blu Hotel, Lagos was part of the Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) which is a yearly trade mission by MATRADE where, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysian exporters’ delegations would travel to potential foreign countries to meet with local partners to promote their products and services.

However, this year, a virtual trade mission was initiated in West Africa due to the inability of Malaysian exporters to travel abroad during the pandemic where the Malaysian borders are still under strict restriction.

This virtual mission involves hybrid B2B meetings where Nigerian business people met with Malaysian exporters, virtually with the assistance of MATRADE Lagos and NMBC.

The Trade Commissioner of Malaysia in Lagos, Mohd Khairy Maidin said that the initiative is one of the efforts of the office in Lagos to promote Malaysian made products and services in Nigeria.

Read also: Nigeria seeks to strengthen trade relations with Cote d’Ivoire

“Malaysia currently exports high value-added products in various sectors including in technology, electrical and electronic parts, chemicals and chemical products, petrochemicals, optical and scientific equipment, medical devices, machinery, equipment and parts, automotive and aerospace components, building materials, renewable energy, processed food, furniture and lifestyle products besides traditional commodity exports such as oil & gas and palm oil-based products as well as rubber-based products. These items are primarily exported to Malaysia’s main trade destinations of ASEAN, China, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea as well as the European Union,” he said.

“Other than F&B and ICT sectors, we also introduce Malaysian machinery manufacturers that focusing on food processing and packaging. It highlights Malaysia’s support towards Nigeria’s efforts to boost its industrialisation especially in the food and agro sectors.

“Malaysia always has the interest to participate in Nigeria’s quest to become West Africa’s main agro-producing nation and we (Malaysia) have the strength to become the partner for this initiative,” he further said.

The President of the Nigeria-Malaysia Business Council, Michael Aderohunmu said: “Our expectations post-Covid is to do more business because Nigeria’s economy offers an incredible opportunity to change the trajectory of doing business with our Malaysian partners.”