Global acceptance of halal industry growing

Global acceptance of halal industry growing

GLOBAL acceptance of the halal industry is growing at a feverish pace based on the keen interest shown by local and international firms, to participate in the Malaysia International Halal Showcase 2009 (Mihas 2009).

To be held from May 6-10 at the Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC) here, about 490 firms have confirmed their participation in the event, Mihas chief executive officer Mohd Shukri Abdullah said.

Organised by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), 25 countries are expected to join the show, with five being newcomers.

Among the countries are China, Iran, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, Egypt, France, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Tunisia, United Kingdom, India, Japan and the United States.

There are also 12 companies from Palestine participating.

Shukri said there were applications from about 120 local and international partcipants to join Mihas but only 10 booths are still available.

"We are looking into ways to assisting them. But priority will be given to international companies," he told Bernama in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Shukri, the halal industry, valued at US$2.1 trillion for food and non-food products worldwide,will continue to grow rapidly in line with the increasing numbers of Muslims worldwide.

"Thus Mihas, will continue to create opportunities, by offering a platform for entrepreneurs to grow their business and keep pace with the halal industry's development.

"They should therefore take the opportunity to be part of Mihas. We have about 3,000 organisations with halal certification. For food, the number is around 1,500 but only 361 companies actually export via Matrade," he disclosed.

He said Mihas is offering a two-day incoming buying mission (IBM), where participants can seek to meet with more than 500 trade buyers flown in by Matrade from around the world.

To further promote the halal industry, Shukri said that Mihas will also organise a consumer fair in Penang and Johor by the end of this year.

"Mihas alone cannot do the job of promoting the halal industry and people are asking us to do more exhibitions.So, we will have a small consumer show in the states to promote the industry at home and help the small and medium enterprises reach bigger markets," he added.

He urged industry players, especially those involved in the food sector to get the halal certification and take advantage of the Mihas platform to go global.

"They also should improve their packaging quality in order to export their products by working with us and Matrade," he concluded. - Bernama