LANGKAWI: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) expects the Buy Malaysian Goods Campaign sales value this year to increase by 2.5 per cent from the RM3.3 billion recorded last year.

KPDNHEP Deputy Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid said although the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the Movement Control Order had affected economic activities, he was optimistic that the sales value this year would be higher based on the current projection, which was close to reaching the target.

"In 2019, the implementation of the Buy Malaysian Goods Campaign recorded a sales value of RM2.87 billion, with RM6.84 million of that amount obtained through online portals.

"In 2020, the campaign saw a rise in sales to RM3.3 billion, with the value of online sales registering a huge increase of more than RM145 million," he said when officiating the 2021 national Buy Malaysian Goods Campaign today.

He said that through the campaign, his ministry encouraged Malaysians to prioritise and support locally-made products, especially in helping the country recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and revive the economy.

Meanwhile, Rosol said the ministry was in the process of improving the Made in Malaysia logo marking as it realised that there were many more unique, high-quality local products with the potential to penetrate the domestic and foreign markets.

He added that the move was in line with the ministry's wish to see more locally-made products being recognised and known domestically and internationally.

"The marking of the Made in Malaysia logo provides added value and quality assurance to a locally-made product because the use of this logo is not given arbitrarily to product operators and must go through strict application procedures," he said.

At the event, Rosol also inspected the Malaysian Goods Sales Carnival in conjunction with the campaign, which was held at Dataran Cenang here for four days until tomorrow, where a total of 20 local micro, small and medium entrepreneurs are taking part.

-- BERNAMA