Malaysia promotes ethnic cuisine to locals as part of export push

The Malaysian Consul and Trade Commissioner, Ms Zaimah Osman

As part of a continuous effort to bring its rich and diverse ethnic cuisine into overseas homes and restaurants, Malaysia is implementing new trade initiatives to drive the export of processed food and other specialties to Macau.
After years of successful promotion in Hong Kong, winning the favor of the region’s hospitality and trade sectors, the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) has finally expanded its Malaysian Kitchen Program to Macau, with its first Gourmet Tour event held at the casino resorts City of Dreams and Altira Macau.
The Malaysian Consul and Trade Commissioner, Ms Zaimah Osman, officiating the event’s launch ceremony last week, told the Times that the five-year Kitchen Program (MKP) aims to introduce the multicultural nation to the world through people’s kitchens. She expects future collaboration with local restaurants and hotels, as well as import traders.
“When they serve Malaysian menus, they will try to get all [of their] ingredients from Malaysia. That’s our ultimate goal, actually,” she revealed.
Last year, Malaysia’s total exports to Macau recorded a 30 percent increase to USD 26.1 million. However, the Commissioner acknowledged that “the numbers are not that encouraging” for the export of processed food, which remains at USD 1 million.
Ms Osman noted that the Kitchen Program has driven up Malaysia’s food exports to Hong Kong, which have since reached double-digit levels. She hopes that the new collaboration with Macau will ignite export growth of about five percent, especially in light of the new resorts opening in the Cotai Strip.
“Macau is famous for its hospitality sector, hotels and gaming; we have Malaysian companies that produce software and supply the casinos in Macau. But regardless what happens to the economy, people will still need food, and people love to try new food. That is the easiest and fastest way to introduce something new [to] another country.”
“Many countries like Japan, Korea, and even Vietnam promote their food. For us – because we relate it to the trade angle – when we promote Malaysian food, we also want to source ingredients all the way from Malaysia, so that the import of Malaysian products will increase,” she stressed.
Nevertheless, the Commissioner acknowledged that it hasn’t been easy to generate awareness. “Like Japanese food, some people don’t mind queuing to get it. We want to be at the level where people have to queue to get Malaysian food. We still have a long way to go to promote it.”
On the topic of the Kitchen Program’s previous year, Ms Osman commented on the significant improvement, noting that enlisting the City of Dreams is “a good start to the year.”
“People have already accepted Malaysian food. In Hong Kong, a lot of restaurants asked us about the program; a lot of hotels have already been queuing just to ask [for a] collaboration. Honestly, we did reject some of the proposals this year [because of our] limited budget. In Macau, this is – as of now – the first ever collaboration to promote Malaysian food.”
Throughout September, several dining areas at the City of Dreams’ SOHO district will feature a selection of ethnic Malaysian cuisine, with menus offering a variety of dishes from north to south Malaysia.
“I was also impressed that some of the food is exactly the same. It feels like home,” said Ms Osman about the dishes presented by native Malaysian chefs.
“Sands China has shown interest. (…) Like in Hong Kong, when we started with one hotel, other hotels came to approach us for the food promotion. This is a very positive response.”