MATRADE Annual Report 2020 14 Trade Performance History will remember 2020 as a year unlike any other. In the space of a couple of months, COVID-19 brought the world to its knees, impacting global trade and economic wellbeing. Almost instantly, industry confidence was hit. By March 2020, the pandemic began to bear down on lifestyle, public health and economic status in countries worldwide. Social distancing, personal protective equipment and movement control quickly became the norm. With the progressive opening of the economy and gradual recovery of external demand, Malaysia’s exports rebounded in the second half of 2020 compared to the negative growth in the first half. In 2020, the World Trade Organization ranked Malaysia as the world’s top 25th trading nation, 24th largest exporter and 26th leading importer. What We Did in 2020 MATRADE conducted a survey in April 2020 with responses received from over 1,200 businesses comprising mainly SMEs. The survey revealed that businesses were badly affected due to loss of contracts and orders, resulting in potential loss of revenue. MATRADE’s response to this, and capitalising on its early head start in digital transformation, provided concrete organisational and technical capabilities to immediately support businesses to manage their export promotion efforts. Before the pandemic, MATRADE already had an initiative called International Sourcing Programme (INSP), a signature B2B meeting programme that matches buyers from all over the world with Malaysian exporters. We have since converted the physical B2B meeting platform into a virtual format, called eBizMatch that has been successfully and effectively adopted by suppliers and buyers alike to continue their business meetings in light of travel restrictions. MESSAGE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Despite the pandemic, Malaysia’s exports declined only marginally by 1.1% to RM983.83 bilion compared to the preceding year, while imports contracted by 5.8% to RM800.48 bilion. Total trade in 2020 was valued at RM1.784 trilion, lower by 3.3%. Trade surplus recorded the highest thus far, at RM183.35 bilion, maintaining 23 consecutive years of surplus since 1998. Malaysia’s trade performance was in tandem with countries in the region notably Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India.
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