The Malaysia Services Exhibition will be held during the 14th Western China International Fair from Oct 23 to 27, the Chengdu representative office of Malaysia External Trade Development Corp announced during a news conference.

"Our total sales amounted to 350 million yuan during the 13th Western China International Fair in 2012," said Syed Mohamad Fairus Shaik Ismail, director of MATRADE Chengdu. "This year, the Malaysia Services Exhibition Chengdu 2013 will bring a total of 30 reputable Malaysian companies to participate in the event."

Participation includes five major services sectors such as education and specialized training, healthcare services, franchise services, food and beverages services and business services. Specialized business activities will be promoted by the Malaysian exhibitors during the period.

In addition to the Malaysia Services Exhibition exhibition, MATRADE will organize one-on-one business meetings between Malaysian exhibitors and Sichuan companies on Oct 24 to provide opportunities to interact directly with each other.

The Malaysia Services Exhibition is a continuous effort made by the Malaysia government, through MATRADE, to promote prominent services industries from Malaysia to the world.

The Malaysia Services Exhibition Chengdu aims to be a platform for enhancing cooperation and collaboration between Malaysian business communities with enterprises in Sichuan and neighboring regions of western China.

According to statistics from China customs, Malaysia is Sichuan's third largest import origin country, behind the US and Japan. The bilateral trade between Malaysia and Sichuan province amounted to $3.1 billion last year.

For the period of January to July 2013, Sichuan's total trade with Malaysia reached $1.97 billion, rising by more than 142 percent, with import values at $1.2 billion and export values at $770 million.

Vibrant expansion of bilateral trade in recent years is a strong indicator of the close relationship between the business communities in the two countries and between Malaysia and Sichuan province.

Through continuous efforts, MATRADE is going to achieve a total annual trade of $5.3 billion between Malaysia and Sichuan by 2017, said Syed.