The country will position itself as a vibrant ASEAN investment hub at the world event that starts October 1, 2021
Malaysia is confident Expo 2020 Dubai is a catalyst to jumpstart the pandemic-hit global economy which the country is poised to gain from.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham Baba said that capitalising on the attraction of the mega event, Malaysia has lined up an elaborate 26-week thematic trade and business programme to be participated by about 300 Malaysian companies from various industries.
Elaborating on the potential of the world event, he said 40 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) are anticipated to be signed by Malaysian companies on a B2B, G2G and G2B level with their global counterparts at the expo. These include in the fields of innovation & technology, halal, education, tourism, finance and others.
“These impending business breakthroughs will support the country’s prospects of achieving its trade and business targets of between RM8 billion and RM10 billion worth of potential trade and investment opportunities,” he added at a virtual press conference with media in Malaysia and the UAE.
The Minister added that as Expo 2020 Dubai remains committed to its target of 25 million visitations despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, Malaysia is confident the global trade event will benefit participating companies and be the platform to reboot the economy.
Malaysia will join 192 other participating countries and organisations at this flagship event which will be held from October 1, 2021, to March 31 2022. Themed ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, the World Expo is a quinquennial mega event that aims to promote global cooperation, innovation, technological development, human progress, and education, and will be held for the first time in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region.
Malaysia’s participation is spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre as implementing agency.
Expo 2020 Dubai is set to brim with business opportunities as it expects a high number of visitors to be those looking for trade opportunities, bringing business delegations, foreign dignitaries, and government liaisons. This will be a significant opportunity to build Malaysia’s profile as a vibrant ASEAN investment hub on a global stage.
The Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai carries the theme of ‘Energising Sustainability’ as it showcases the nation’s economic achievements while it adheres to the principles of sustainable development.
Dr Adham said, “Expo 2020 Dubai is committed to fostering collaborations and finding solutions to our shared problems. Likewise, Malaysia’s participation displays our long-standing interest in global conversations and to initiate dialogues on common challenges, while sharing our efforts in tackling sustainability issues and the need to maximise the benefits of STIE.”
“The World Expo presents Malaysia with the unique opportunity to elevate our homegrown brands to a global stage. As the global community gradually adapts and strives to recover under the pandemic, our objective at Expo 2020 has become more important now than ever,” he added.
Malaysia as the first net zero-carbon Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai
Malaysia Pavilion is the event’s first net zero carbon Pavilion, designed as a ‘Rainforest Canopy’ and aligned to its ‘Energising Sustainability’ theme. The design was inspired by Malaysia’s majestic tropical rainforests which are estimated to be millions of years old.
As part of its net zero carbon initiative, the Malaysia Pavilion will offset its carbon footprints in construction, operations, and dismantling activities through forest conservation under the National Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD PLUS) programme and purchase of renewable energy certificates. In addition, Malaysia Pavilion is also supporting the Greening Malaysia: 100 Million Tree-Planting Campaign by planting 500 kapur trees at Taman Eko-Rimba Bukit Sg Puteh in Cheras.
The Pavilion spreads across 1,234.5 sq meter and comprises four dedicated sections – Energising Today, Energising Tomorrow, Energising Business, and Energising Harmony.
‘Energising Today’ showcases Malaysia’s rainforest conservation and commitment to the sustainable development of the agricommodities sector, while ‘Energising Tomorrow’ features Malaysia’s achievement and blueprint for establishing low carbon cities, renewable energy generation, and economic and societal development leveraging science, technology and innovation.
‘Energising Business’ is the centre for trade and business networking where companies from the private sector, state enterprises, and government come together to promote sustainable economic development across key industries. ‘Energising Harmony’ is a display of Malaysia’s diverse cultures and traditions which make up a harmonious and united country. This section will feature about 1,000 live cultural shows, demonstrations, and performances throughout the duration of Expo.
Unwavering support of the Malaysian government
Malaysia’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai will be supported by 21 ministries of the Malaysian government, 70 government agencies, and five state governments – namely, Selangor, Johor, Penang, Melaka, and Sabah.
They will be promoting 10 industries namely education; youth and entrepreneurship; trade, industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing; science, technology and innovation; environment and water; sustainable agriculture and agricommodities; health, tourism and culture; energy; e-commerce and ICT; halal industry and Islamic finance.
Dr. Adham added, “The Malaysia Pavilion has the full support of the Malaysian government through its Ministries and agencies that are anchoring the weekly trade and business cluster efforts at Dubai. We believe that Malaysia has much that we can showcase and be proud of along these strategic themes.”
Activities galore showcasing Malaysia
Throughout the six months at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Malaysia Pavilion will host a series of activities and programmes such as business seminars, business matching sessions, product launches, summits, forums and pocket talks. Among the notable events include the Malaysia International Technology Summit (5th October 2021), Seminar on Accelerating Green Technology and Climate Actions in Malaysia (18th October 2021), Climate Change Conversation on Sustainable Infrastructure (25th October 2021), Future World Education Simulation (13th December 2021), Malaysia-UAE Investment Forum (9th January 2022) and many others.
MOSTI will kick-start the weekly trade and business programmes across two weeks. In the first week, MOSTI and its agency Technology Park Malaysia will anchor the ‘Commercialisation: From Lab to International’ programme to be followed by the “Creating Tomorrow’s Sustainable Startups” with Cradle Fund. The objectives of these programmes are to promote the country’s technologies and startups and forge partnerships in enhancing R&D&C activities.
Malaysia’s trade and commercial efforts are also bolstered by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities as well as local brand partners PETRONAS, Serba Dinamik, Marrybrown, Julie’s, Claytan, Nur Malaysia, UPS, Fusionex, Monsta, R&D Studio, Studio Birthplace and Digital Durian.
