The parties held broad and in-depth discussions across multiple domains, including Cambodia's investment policies, textile sector dynamics, and export procedures.

2024-08-12 11:03:42

To promote the globalization of Shantou's textile and garment industry cluster and facilitate enterprises' expansion into Southeast Asian markets, the Shantou Textile and Garment Industry Association Delegation Visited Malaysia from August 8 to 10. Leveraging the official visit by the Shantou Municipal Committee and Municipal Government to Southeast Asia, the delegation conducted industry promotion, engaged with multiple chambers of commerce and enterprises, and explored collaborative opportunities.

August 8th---Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA) 

To gain deeper insights into Malaysia's textile industry landscape and foster cross-border collaboration, a delegation led by Executive Vice Presidents Ma Qingxuan and Huang Hanchu of the Shantou Textile and Garment Industry Association visited the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA) on the morning of August 8. During the meeting with MTMA President Chen Tianbao and other industry leaders, both parties engaged in discussions to explore synergies and collaborative opportunities.

During the meeting, both parties highlighted their respective industrial strengths and comparative advantages, engaging in extensive discussions on resource sharing and industrial synergy. The conference was simultaneously broadcast via video conference to major textile-producing cities and industry-specific chambers across Malaysia.

Executive Vice President Ma Qingxuan expressed gratitude to MTMA for its support of the 3rd Chaoshan Garment Expo, voiced hopes for enhanced bilateral exchanges to foster collaboration platforms for enterprises from both regions, and extended an invitation for MTMA to organize more member companies to visit Shantou. The delegation specifically proposed joint tours of Shantou International Textile City and sourcing activities at future expos.

August 9th

Alibaba’s Malaysia Campus

On the morning of August 9, Lü Shaoxiong, Director of Shantou Commerce Bureau, led a delegation to Alibaba’s Malaysia Campus where they were warmly welcomed by Liu Jiali, General Manager of Tmall Taobao Overseas (Malaysia National Station), and her team. 

General Manager Liu introduced the operations of Alibaba’s Malaysia headquarters, detailing Tmall Taobao’s domestic and international business segments—including Lazada—and presented market data analytics to gauge Southeast Asia’s sales potential and consumer sentiment.

Executives from Alibaba's core business units detailed Tmall Taobao Overseas and Lazada's comprehensive support framework for Chinese exporters, encompassing cross-border e-commerce solutions, logistics optimization, and brand incubation, while both parties exchanged insights on Southeast Asia's e-commerce operational models, analyzed market integration strategies in Malaysia, and mapped out a reinforced bilateral economic cooperation framework for enhanced stability and sustainability.

Building upon the Sail Overseas 100 Initiative Cooperation Memorandum with Shantou's textile and garment industry, both parties will extend collaboration across broader industrial spectrums, establishing a robust support infrastructure for Shantou's textile products entering global markets.

The delegation of the association also conducted a market investigation at the Parkson Group of Malaysia.

Mr. Adrian, representing Parkson Group, extended a warm welcome to the delegation and elaborated on the conglomerate's operational scale in Malaysia, business portfolio, procurement criteria, and localization strategies. He emphasized significant collaborative potential in textile sectors, specifically proposing to partner with Shantou's premium intimate and homewear manufacturers to strengthen Parkson's apparel competitiveness.

This was followed by a targeted business alignment session between the delegation and Parkson's merchandise planning division, where in-depth analysis of Malaysian consumer preferences (particularly in mid-to-high-end lingerie categories) and supply chain optimization strategies were discussed to enhance Shantou's textile market penetration in Malaysia.

August 10th--Johor Old Temple

On the morning of August 10, at the Johor Old Temple in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, the inauguration ceremony of Eng Ee Yingge Dance Troupe—the nation's first Yingge performing ensemble established by the Teo Chew Por Yen Association Johor Bahru—was witnessed by Wen Zhanbin, Secretary of the Shantou Municipal CPC Committee, leading the "Shantou Friendship Delegation". Association President Weng Chuangjie led the industry delegation to participate in the founding ceremony and observe Malaysia's adaptation of the traditional "Chu Hua Yuan" coming-of-age ritual.

The association presented specially designed red bellybands at the "Chu Hua Yuan" coming-of-age ritual ceremony, gifting these culturally symbolic garments to Malaysian youth to immerse them in Teochew traditions and the ceremonial significance of adulthood.

Johor Bahru Chinese Association

On the morning of August 10, the association delegation accompanied the Shantou Economic & Trade Delegation to the Johor Bahru Chinese Association, where a joint business matching session was conducted with the Johor Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Malaysian Textile Merchants & Garment Manufacturers General Association, Southern Johor SME Association, and member enterprises of the Johor Bahru Chinese Association.

Dato' Lee Boon Huat, President of Johor Bahru Chinese Association, President Tan Swee Cheng of Southern Johor SME Association, Dato' Sri Wong Hooi Yin representing Johor Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and President Wong Li Heng of Malaysian Textile Merchants & Garment Manufacturers General Association extended a warm welcome to the delegation. They respectively presented an overview of their respective chambers' industrial development strategies and competitive strengths during the meeting, expressing strong aspirations to leverage this exchange as a catalyst for facilitating more substantive collaboration in future engagements.

At the exchange meeting, Mr. Lü Shaoxiong, Director of Shantou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, introduced to Malaysian delegates the dual industrial pillars represented by the Shantou Textile and Garment Industry Association and Chenghai Toy Association. He emphasized the municipal government's strategic "Three New, Two Special, One Major" industrial development framework, where textile/garment and toy/creative industries are positioned as specialized pillar industries receiving comprehensive policy support.

Association President Weng Chuangjie extended sincere gratitude for the warm hospitality from Malaysian chambers and guilds, outlining Shantou's textile industry as a global powerhouse—dominating in intimate/homewear production while leading knitted fabrics manufacturing and dyeing hubs. This visit strategically targets leveraging Malaysia's e-commerce surge and port advantages to forge cross-border sales channels, capitalizing on the robust Malaysia-Southeast Asia supply chain integration that positions Malaysia as Shantou's prime knitted fabric export hub, with discussions now focused on establishing direct enterprise-level cooperation.

Following the meeting, enterprises from both sides engaged in focused business matching sessions to profile core product lines and competitive strengths, exchanging business cards that signified mutual commitment to advance concrete collaboration channels.

Lego Land

In the afternoon, Director Lü Shaoxiong led the association delegation on a strategic engagement with the LEGO Group, exploring synergistic opportunities between Shantou's world-leading toy manufacturing ecosystem and LEGO's global innovation framework to foster mutually reinforcing industrial synergies.

Accompanied by LEGO corporate representatives, the delegation toured and experienced key projects within the LEGO campus, followed by a comprehensive briefing on the Group’s corporate culture, developmental philosophy, and global business sectors. Building upon these insights, both parties explored collaborative potentials in textile-apparel product ventures, committing to forge synergistic win-win cooperation.

With the Belt and Road Initiative advancing and RCEP dividends unfolding, Shantou and Malaysia possess vast cooperation potential in textiles. The association will leverage its service platform to consolidate resources, strengthen ties with Malaysian entities, expand collaborative frontiers, consolidate trade networks for global expansion, and attract overseas Teochew entrepreneurs to Shantou.