Regional Trade for Development - Malaysia RCEP Insights: Preparing Malaysian SMEs for Trade

⁠⁠⁠The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realising the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 53.3 million to fund RT4D from 2020–21 to 2027–28.

Project Summary

The RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), implemented through the Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) Facility, supports ASEAN Member States to realise the benefits of RCEP through capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The project ‘RCEP Insights: Preparing Malaysian SMEs for Trade’ is approved under the RISP. The project aims to strengthen Malaysian SMEs’ understanding and utilisation of RCEP by improving their practical knowledge and capacity to apply the Agreement in their business operations. It will:

• increase awareness and understanding of RCEP provisions among SMEs through the development and dissemination of a practical, user-friendly RCEP Toolkit;
• strengthen SMEs’ practical capacity to apply key RCEP provisions, including rules of origin, customs procedures and digital trade requirements, through targeted training and practical guidance;
• improve SME readiness to utilise RCEP by helping participating enterprises understand relevant provisions, identify how they apply to their business operations and determine practical next steps for accessing regional markets and value chains;
• conduct research, stakeholder consultations and validation processes with government agencies, customs authorities, trade agencies, business associations, SMEs and other relevant stakeholders;
• develop a Full Compilation Report consolidating the project methodology, detailed findings and stakeholder-engagement outcomes;
• develop and finalise an approximately 50-page RCEP Utilisation Toolkit for SMEs in Malaysia, featuring step-by-step guidance, infographics, summary charts, comparison tables and other practical visual resources;
• publish the approved Toolkit through SME Corporation Malaysia’s communication channels to support wider access, ongoing use and future updating; and
• deliver a one-day capacity-building workshop in Kuala Lumpur for approximately 40–50 SMEs and trade-support stakeholders.

The Opportunity

RT4D is seeking a consulting firm/organisation or consortium (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to manage and deliver both technical and event organisation services for the project, in close collaboration with the RT4D Facility and SME Corporation Malaysia. The project will be implemented in Malaysia from February 2027 to November 2027. The final Project outputs will be subject to comments, amendments, and approval from the RT4D Facility Team, SME Corporation Malaysia and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The services will be delivered in accordance with the requirements set out in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Terms of Reference (ToR).

Timeline:

Invitation Issue Date: Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Last Queries Date: 11:59 PM (ICT) Monday, 30 November 2026

Closing Date and Time: 11:59 PM (ICT) Tuesday, 29 December 2026

Note: This is 3:59 AM (AEDT) Wednesday, 30 December 2026. The date shown in this description may therefore differ from the date in the tender documents due to the 4 hour time difference between ICT and AEDT.

Please check RT4D’s website for complete ToR.