Cultivating a Partner

Martha Brannigan | 6/1/2005

HEADS UP: Cultivating a Partner
South Florida companies seeking to expand their foreign trade may get a boost from an unexpected source: Malaysia. A trade mission of 34 Broward business and civic leaders spent a week in the Southeast Asian nation this spring. After the mission, the Malaysian government agreed to open a trade office in Broward.
"This trip laid the foundation for partnerships that will enable Florida interests to expand globally and gain access to an entire region," says Bernhard Schutte, CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Digital Media Network and the mission organizer.
Schutte says the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur, offers an ideal springboard for penetrating the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. "It's an international hub, similar to Miami," says Schutte. "At the same time, we have an ideal site for Malaysian companies to reach out to Latin America. That potential trade flow could create a massive number of jobs in Florida."

Tags: Southeast