22/08/05 KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Malaysian exporters should start toexplore new emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and Russia to exporttheir products, said Deputy International Trade and Industry MinisterDatuk Mah Siew Keong.He said among the sectors with potential to go into these markets wereelectric and electronic, automotive and palm oil."We should look at exporting our products or goods to other countries asMalaysian products have high quality," he told reporters at the NationalExport Conference 2005 here Monday.Mah said branding was an important marketing tool that Malaysian companiesshould look into so that their products were accepted globally.Branding, he added, helped to create a significant impact and provide acompetitive edge as well as to capture and sustain a sizeable marketshare."Malaysia needs to develop strong brands as well as original designs tobuild consumer loyalty and preferences for Malaysian products," he said,adding that brand image was a strong asset for a company.According to Mah, some of the prominent Malaysian brandnames were Bonia,Pensonic, Petronas, Lewre and Royal Selangor."Investments for branding and packaging as well as setting up goodsexhibitions overseas are investment for the future of the companies. Thisis important to bring their products globally," he said.Asked about Malaysia's trade performance, Mah said for the first half of2005, the country's total trade amounted to RM458.73 billion, an increaseof 10.7 percent from the first half of 2004.He said total exports amounted to RM253.30 billion, an increase of 12.2percent, while imports totalled RM205.43 billion, up by nine percent.Last year, Malaysia recorded its highest trade growth with RM880.8billion, an increase of 23.3 percent compared to RM717.4 billion in 2003.Mah said exports increased to RM480.7 billion, a rise of 20.8 percent, andimports totalled RM400.1 billion, up by 26.4 percent."This performance was largely due to the contribution of the manufacturingsector, accounting for 31.6 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) lastyear and factors such as strong demand from our trading partners, dynamicintra-Asean trade and successful efforts in sustaining the traditionalmarkets whilst diversifying into new and emerging markets," he said.Mah said Malaysian economy expanded by 7.1 percent last year, growingsteadily since 2000, adding that the expansion was a result of robustgrowth in global trade as well as domestic demand.He said Malaysia was now in the process of finalising the Third IndustrialMaster Plan and the Ninth Malaysia Plan for implementation early nextyear.