LONDON, 16 September, 2013 – Tourism Malaysia is making its presence felt at this year’s London Fashion Week in a bid to attract British brand owners and principals to invest in Malaysia’s flourishing shopping and retail sector. The tourism promotion board is working closely with the United Kingdom Trade Investment (UKTI) to meet and convince British brand owners and principals on the merits of investing in Malaysia. This mission is spearheaded by Performance Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and attended by Shopping Malaysia Secretariat, Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur City Center (BBKLCC) and Malaysia Shopping Malls Association.

Malaysia’s retail industry grew by 5.5 percent last year with RM87.8 billion (£16.9 billion) in sales turnover. In addition, shopping is a lucrative sector of Malaysia’s tourism industry. It holds the second biggest share of tourist expenditure after accommodation. Last year, tourists spent RM19 billion (£3.65 billion) on shopping, an increase of 5.7% compared to 2011. It constituted about 30.7% of the total tourist receipts of RM60.6 billion (£11.65 billion).

“We are targeting to attract some 36 million tourists and RM168 billion (£32 billion) receipts by the year 2020. This can be a huge market for brands who base their operations in Malaysia, on top of the rest of the ASEAN market,” says Madam Magie Abang Saufi, Board Member of Tourism Malaysia.

She added, “The Malaysian Government has shown a high commitment to developing the Malaysian retail and tourism industries. We look forward to welcoming more British brands and labels to open their business in Malaysia.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city, has been ranked fourth in global news network, CNN’s survey on the top 10 best shopping cities in the world, ahead of well-established shopping hubs such as Paris, Hong Kong and Dubai. Earlier, Kuala Lumpur was crowned the second best shopping destination in Asia Pacific by Globe Shopper Index, created by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is part of the Economist Group and commissioned by Switzerland-based shopping tourism company.

For more information, please contact:-

Ms. Salinda Sany (+603-8891 8531) - salinda@tourism.gov.my 

Shopping Malaysia Secretariat

ENDS

For more media releases, media info and media features on Malaysia’s tourism industry, kindly visit the Media Centre of Tourism Malaysia’s website at http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my/

In 2014, Malaysia will celebrate its fourth VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR (VMY) with the theme “Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia”. The VMY 2014 promotional campaign has started this year with a series of year-long special events and activities leading to VMY 2014. It will contribute to the Government’s target to receive 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in receipts by 2020, as outlined in the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) 2020.