Austrade Kuala Lumpur is supporting the delivery of two curated training programs for the Malaysian food manufacturing sector.
Austrade partnered with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Institute and TAFE NSW to deliver the Australian Food Manufacturers Program. This coincides with Malaysia's biggest food and hospitality trade show, Food & Hotel Malaysia.
The program will offer both training in food safety, and food science and technology. The modules are designed for technical experts and supervisors. The program incorporates Australian food standards within a Malaysian manufacturing context.
This cross-sectoral initiative is an opportunity to reinforce Australia's high food safety standards as well as present Australian agribusiness products to over 50 premier food manufacturers in Malaysia.
Australian expertise in food manufacturing
Specialists from TAFE NSW will help train supervisors and quality control professionals from the Malaysian food manufacturing and processing industry.
'This is an opportunity to share expertise and knowledge, opening the door for Australian training to be delivered in one of largest economic sectors in Malaysia,' says Paul Sanda, Austrade's Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner.
'The program will also highlight and promote Australia's premier ingredients to Malaysian food-manufacturers.'
Malaysia is open to Australian food and technology
Australia is Malaysia's number one supplier of wheat. In 2021, Malaysia imported around RM 1.2 billion high quality and customised wheat varieties to Malaysia. These grains were used in value-added processing with many of the finished products exported to global markets.
Malaysia is also a growing market for Australian honey. In 2021, Australia companies exported honey worth $3 million. This was a 20% increase in value from 2019.
Manufacturing is Malaysia's second-largest business sector. Approximately 74% of recent survey respondents are planning to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. This is according to the 2021 edition of the FMM-Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) Business Conditions Survey.
Return of in-person trade shows
Approximately 50 Australian businesses presented to Malaysian and international buyers at Food and Hotels Malaysia, which ran from 29 March to 1 April. The cohort included some of Australia's unique indigenous foods and culinary products.
It was the first 'in-person' food trade show since the pandemic.
Australia is well placed to supply ingredients and raw materials to Malaysia. Australian technology can also be used to increase manufacturing efficiencies.
