KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) is confident sales from the lifestyle segment will double this year, says Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dr Wong Lai Sum.

She said Matrade would focus on promoting fashion-related programmes this year beginning with the Malaysia Fashion Week, to be held in October.

“Last year, the lifestyle segment generated RM1.4 billion in sales and we hope to double that this year,” she told reporters after the promotion agency signed a memorandum of understanding with Stylo International, a foreign fashion network.

Wong said a three-day international trade exhibition called Intrade 2014 would be held on the sidelines of the Malaysia Fashion Week to exhibit lifestyle products including fashion apparel and textiles, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home products and furniture.

Intrade 2014 will be held from October 20 with over 450 exhibitors from more than 30 countries and with 300 trade buyers expected to patronise the event.

“We hope the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) especially youths involved in lifestyle would make use of the programme as a platform to penetrate the global fashion market.

“To put Malaysia on the global fashion map, it is important that the country has a defined fashion agenda and being a country that is rich with culture, we have so much to offer,” she added.

Last year, Malaysia received orders worth RM10 billion just for textile.

“In fact, we received more (orders). There is a lot of unrecorded statistics

coming from the jewellery, footwear and other segments,” she said.

In order to encourage the SMEs to participate in the programme, Matrade would provide grants of RM5,000 each under its market development grant.

“But, they must have an export-ready product to be marketed,” she added. — Bernama