Sales Value Of Malaysia's Distributive Trade Sector Increased To RM1.766 Trillion In 2024 – Armizan

ISKANDAR PUTERI, June 27 (Bernama) -- The sales value of Malaysia’s distributive trade sector increased to RM1.766 trillion in 2024, compared to RM1.674 trillion in the previous year, said Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.

He said the 5.5 per cent increase reflected the encouraging performance of the domestic distribution sector, which remained sustainable post-pandemic, thus opening up wider space for local products to penetrate the market more aggressively.

"We see this increase in sales value as a positive momentum. It provides an opportunity for us to mainstream local products in this large wholesale and retail trade sector," he told a press conference after opening the southern zone “Jelajah Karnival KPDN 2025’ and the launch of the Buy Malaysian Goods Campaign (KBBM) at the Puteri Harbour Convention centre here today.

Also present were Deputy Minister of KPDN Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, and the chairman of the state Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee Lee Ting Han.

This year, Johor was selected as the opening location for the “southern zone “Jelajah Karnival KPDN 2025, which will run for three days until June 29, taking into account the encouraging response in 2024, which recorded a total of 761,659 visitors.

The tour series will then proceed to five other zones, namely the Northern Zone (Kedah), Eastern Zone (Pahang), Central Zone (Selangor), Sabah Zone and Sarawak Zone, with various consumer advocacy programmes, local product promotions, and exhibitions by government agencies.

Armizan said KBBM 2025 is a strategic initiative to stimulate domestic economic growth and assist micro, small, and medium enterprises in expanding their market reach both locally and internationally.

“This campaign provides a platform to showcase the quality of local products as the preferred choice, thus reducing dependence on imported goods,” he said.

He said that KPDN also recorded a sales value of more than RM347 million through KBBM in 2023 and 2024, involving almost 700,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) through three major e-commerce platforms, namely TikTok, Shopee and Lazada.

Armizan said the implementation of this initiative would be driven by a whole-of-nation approach through cross-ministerial, agency, private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGO) collaboration.

 At the KPDN level, he said the campaign also involves strategic collaboration with the retail industry and e-commerce platforms, alongside the implementation of the Local to Global Retail programme, aimed at expanding the global market presence of local products.

“The ‘Jom Beli Lokal’ campaign is not only awareness-raising, but is a long-term policy to strengthen the country’s overall economic security.

“This movement is not just a ministry initiative. If sales in the distribution sector reach RM1.766 trillion, we want more local products to fill that market space,” he said.

-- BERNAMA