Malaysia Kitchen Programme Woos High-End Customers In Beijing

BEIJING, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia Kitchen Programme (MKP) is now diversifying its focus to high-end and international customers by introducing Malaysian delicacies at Shangri-La's China World Hotel here.

"This is the first time we are co-organising the Malaysia Kitchen Festival with China World Hotel in Beijing. "Through this, we hope to generate more awareness of Malaysian cuisine and brands not only among wealthy local customers, but to promote it internationally," said Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) Senior Trade Commissioner in Beijing, Abu Bakar Yusof.

The hotel, which attracts about 500 to 600 customers daily for lunch and dinner, will be one of the platforms to introduce and promote authentic Malaysian cuisine to high-end customers in China, he told Malaysian reporters after opening the 10-day festival, to be held from Oct 22-31, on Tuesday night. In June, the same programme was held in Dalian, a city in northeasten China.

Malaysian celebrity chef Yang Jamil, who has been invited to the festival, said about 20 Malaysian dishes would be served, including nasi lemak, mee rebus, mee soto, roti canai and teh tarik. Some of the raw materials were brought from Malaysia, so customers are assured of authentic Malaysian cuisine, he said.

The MKP has been collaborating with Parkson Retail Group to promote Malaysian food and beverage (F&B) products via food exhibitions. In April, it also held a joint programme with 7-Eleven for the first time at its 200 outlets in Beijing and Tianjin to introduce Malaysian products.

The MKP was mooted by the government in 2006 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006 -2010), with the key objective of branding Malaysia through its cuisine. It was officially introduced in China in 2011, after MATRADE took over the programme in late 2009.
-bernama.