MDEC’s GAIN program is like a matchmaking service for companies

In an effort to push the development of Malaysian businesses towards becoming global icons, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), designed the Global Acceleration and Innovation Network (GAIN).

GAIN is supposed to help increase the export of Malaysia’s tech solutions and services to the global audience, but how does it do that? Well, it does that by being a little like a matchmaking service.

I recently attended a briefing by MDEC about the potential of the ASEAN ICT market which is estimated to be worth about USD48bil by 2019, which is good news for Malaysian companies that are looking to grow beyond our borders. But, one of the biggest issues faced by many Malaysian companies is gaining market access in these foreign companies — and this is where GAIN steps in to lend a hand.

Speaking to iTalent country manager Victor Phang — of one of MDEC’s selected MSC-status companies under the GAIN program — he explained that GAIN functioned a little like a matchmaking service designed to pair local ICT companies with the key figures in foreign markets.

His company designs end-to-end human resource solutions for companies with about 500 employees or more. This makes it very hard for the company to grow without leaving Malaysia because many companies that are suitable for his HR solution are usually regional companies.

So, one of the challenges he faced was gaining access to foreign markets and building relationships with companies there. Without MDEC’s help, he explained that it took them about a year just to meet the right partner when they tried to enter Thailand’s market. However, thanks to GAIN, they were able to build relationships with Indonesia’s Systems Integrator in less than half that time.

MDEC does this by connecting local businesses that have similar interests as their counterparts abroad and bringing both parties together to work things out. Victor explains that this is important because, on his first run into Thailand, he had to go door-to-door and speak to everyone in the field to find interested companies to work together with.

Through GAIN, he was immediately put in contact with people who are already interested in what his company does and that sped up the entire process immensely.

I think it’s definitely important for local companies to start pushing beyond the borders of Malaysia because you can only do so much in a country with a population of about 30 million, especially if you compare the opportunities you stand to tap into in a country like Indonesia with a population of about 260 million people.

What do you guys think about this? Let me know in the comments below.