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President’s Message
Dear Members,
2022 is coming to an end, and thus far, we have seen encouraging progress in business across the country. As businesses fully resume operations and as restrictions are relaxed, we can truly see a brighter future in the months Sharan Valiram ahead. According
President 2022-2024 to Retail Group
Malaysia Retail Chain Malaysia (RGM), Association Malaysian retail sales increased 62.5% in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, reaching a new record level. RGM is revising up its Malaysia retail industry growth forecast for the full year 2022 to 31.7% from a previous estimate of 13.1%, taking into consideration the rm recovery of the industry since the beginning of this year. This spells good news for our businesses, so let’s ride the wave of growth and harness the opportunities that are before us.
As usual, MRCA has always risen above and beyond the challenges and delivered exciting activities and events for our members and business community over the last few months. I am proud to highlight the success of MIRF in July this year. More than 400 booths and kiosks were featured at the event, including more than 200 renowned brands. We had the opportunity to welcome exhibitors from South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Japan, Cyprus and the Philippines, among others. I would like to thank the organising Chairman, Ms. Christine Tan and the committee members for making this MIRF 2022 a resounding success. A big Thank You to all our sponsors and MATRADE who supported us wholeheartedly.
MIRF, themed “REBOOT: Retail & Franchise”, has proven to be an excellent platform to fuel the growth of the franchise business in Malaysia and to encourage entrepreneurs to expand their businesses across borders. The networking and business collaboration opportunities o ered by MIRF are limitless and I do hope Malaysian entrepreneurs have used the golden opportunities presented at MIRF to drive business growth.
Speaking about going beyond borders, MRCA organised a trade mission to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The 5-day event was an eye-opener for our delegates who had the opportunity to participate in the “Forum on Business Opportunities and Intellectual Property Protection in Cambodia under Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Framework” organised by the Asia Cambodia Law Group, Association of Guang Dong China Commercial Representative in Cambodia and Royal Embassy of Cambodia to Malaysia. The trade mission also featured a mini-exhibition themed “Creating Business Opportunity Between Malaysia and Cambodia”. In addition to that, a Merdeka celebration networking cocktail was held, o ering MRCA members the opportunity to network with Malaysians living in Cambodia to build business relationships in Cambodia. It was truly a very meaningful experience. Thanks to our Organising Chairman Dato’ Vincent Choo.
I am pleased to share that MRCA has inked an agreement with the Indonesian Shopping Centre Retailers and Tenants Association (HIPPINDO) to establish the ASEAN Retail & Trade Union (ARTU). We will continue to reach out to retail associations in Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam to increase regional participation for greater impact. Our appreciation to Mr Ken Phua and Dato’ Vincent Choo for driving the formation of ARTU.
MRCA had an excellent CEO Get Together in Maxis – for this I would like to thank Mr Lim Ben Jie for chairing this event. Our appreciation to Maxis for hosting us – thank you for your precious hospitality. Our gratitude to the MRCA Secretariat for organising all the great activities and events we have had thus far.
Read about MRCA’s various activities in this publication, and if you have missed them, we are sorry to have missed you, but we have more events in the pipeline. Take the opportunity to experience growth and gain insights and thrive from our activities.
Wishing all our members success in the months ahead and I hope to meet all of you at our upcoming events.
