Salaam Gateway to debut in Malaysia at MIHAS 2016

Mass media and information firm Thomson Reuters will be introducing a new portal focusing on the latest information and intelligence on the Islamic economy at Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) 2016. MIHAS 2016 - a signature event by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) - will be held from 30 March to 2 April 2016.

Salaam Gateway from Thomson Reuters, launched in Dubai last year in partnership with the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), is a source of intelligence on all sectors of the Islamic economy. Available in both English and Arabic, the online platform covers the seven pillars of the Islamic economy - food, finance, travel and tourism, fashion, arts and design, pharmaceutical and cosmetics, media and recreation as well as e-commerce. It is designed to serve as a major source of research, information and data for Muslim professionals and to help them widen their understanding of the Islamic economy and explore opportunities open to them.

“Salaam Gateway offers a knowledge-sharing platform at this world’s biggest halal trade fair. Through this partnership, businesses, policymakers and Muslim professionals will be able to gain access to the full spectrum of the Islamic asset classes from across the regions. This will enable us to generate viable solutions to speed up the industry’s growth,” said Chief Executive Officer of MATRADE Dato’ Dzulkifli Mahmud.

Salaam Gateway is also structured as a business-to-business (B2B) tool for Muslim professionals, facilitating the sourcing and trading of halal products and services through a database of halal companies from across the globe. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from this platform by listing their business to gain visibility. It also presents an opportunity for companies to widen their business network and forge profitable partnerships.

“The introduction of Salaam Gateway marks a major step towards the globalisation of the Islamic economy and MIHAS, which represents the global halal marketplace, is the ideal platform to share this knowledge with the world,” said Nadim Najjar, Managing Director, MENA, Thomson Reuters.

According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (SGIE 2015-2016), developed by DIEDC and Thomson Reuters, Muslim consumers’ spending exceeded US$1.8 trillion in 2014, with solid growth recorded across several sectors of the Islamic economy.

“In understanding the needs and priorities of Muslim consumers, it will require more study and research to be undertaken and the result will offer a new level of products and service development for the growth and evolution of the halal market. More knowledge-sharing will enable businesses to explore the opportunities available to them in the emerging new Islamic economy,” said Dato’ Dzulkifli.

The halal agenda is very much part of the Government’s policy to promote the growth and development of Malaysia. The 13th MIHAS, part of World Halal Week 2016, is scheduled to take place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC). It will feature a trade fair and an International Sourcing Programme (INSP).

The trade fair showcases participation of companies supplying various products and services such as halal consumables, non-food products & services, food packaging, machinery & catering equipment, Islamic investment, banking and takaful. A total of 640 booths will be set up, and over 25,000 visitors are expected to attend the event.

"Malaysia has earned an international recognition as one of the pioneers in the global halal marketplace. The halal ecosystem is well developed in Malaysia, and this is a strong catalyst for the huge growth in the industry,” said Dato’ Dzulkifli.

“Halal certified bumiputera companies are a major contributor to the industry. Last year, MIHAS saw the participation of 108 bumiputera companies. We hope to see this number increase significantly this year with more bumiputera SMEs exhibiting their products at MIHAS.”

Aiming to accelerate sales of halal products and services from Malaysia, the INSP will be organised on 29 March 2016. INSP is a business matching programme for Malaysian companies and was previously known as the Incoming Buying Mission or IBM. The sourcing programme aims to match 500 Malaysian companies with over 350 buyers from 41 countries.

Last year, the business matching programme had successfully generated RM443.2 million of sales while the sales from the trade fair were RM655.8 million, bringing the total sales of MIHAS 2015 to RM1.1 billion. With an interplay of various external factors in the global economies, these figures are expected to increase by 2% this year.

The contribution of halal exports to Malaysia’s economy continues to grow, reaching an estimated RM42 billion in 2015, creating 200,000 jobs and supporting 800 SMEs to date.

Besides MIHAS 2016, other components of the World Halal Week are the World Halal Conference 2016 organised by the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) and the Halal Certification Bodies Convention organised by Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM).

Interested?

Read the Suroor Asia blog posts about the INSP, the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report and the launch of Salaam Gateway

Hashtag: #mihas2016

AEON woos Malaysian halal brands ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and AEON have organised a briefing on export opportunities in Japan for Malaysian companies. Held in Menara MATRADE on 21 December 2015, the initiative is part of MATRADE’s efforts to encourage Malaysian companies to tap into the emerging halal industry in Japan and to leverage on the demand expected for halal products and services during the Tokyo summer Olympics in 2020. 

AEON is one of the major retailers in Japan with businesses covering general merchandise stores, convenience stores, specialty stores and also real estate for retail, with more than 5,000 outlets in Japan. At the session, attendees were briefed on ideal ways to access Japan’s market through AEON and the requirements and procedures to supply to AEON’s supermarkets in Japan.
Japanese companies have been working to ensure that there are halal products for the sporting communities, tourist and Muslim populations in Japan ahead of the Tokyo summer Olympics in 2020, which will take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Japan. They have focused on Malaysian halal brands given that Malaysia is one of the world’s top halal products and services providers.

Japan is Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner for exports. In 2014, Malaysia's exports of processed food to Japan was valued at RM620.3 million, an increase of 32.7% compared to the previous year. The top five products that showed a significant increase were cocoa and cocoa preparations, prepared cereals and flour, edible products and preparations as well as sugar and sugar confectionery. For the first 10 months of 2015 (January-October 2015), exports of processed food showed an increase of 25.3%, valued at RM654.7 million. 

MIHAS 2014 reports 21% year-on-year increase in sales generated

Combined sales generated during the 11^th Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS 2014) exhibition and an incoming buying mission (IBM) programme organised by MATRADE was RM966.4 million, an increase of 21% compared to total sales last year of RM798.72 million. 
  

Source: MIHAS website

MIHAS is the largest Halal trade fair that focuses on the sourcing of Halal products and services to international markets. The four-day event attracted 20,818 visitors from 60 countries, an increase of 12.5% compared to the number of visitors last year. Over five hundred (521) companies from 26 countries manned 620 booths, compared to 430 companies last year, an increase of 21%. 

This year's winners of MIHAS awards were the Saudi Export Development Authority (SEDA) for Best Pavilion, Saudi Cold Storage for the Most Promising Entrepreneur and the Best Product Packaging Award was given to AMER – The Art of Taste CC from South Africa.
  
The IBM consisted of pre-scheduled business meetings between buyers and sellers on April 8. Four hundred buyers from 41 countries participated, including representatives from China, Japan, Korea, India, Mongolia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey and Qatar.

The key sectors which attracted strong interest among buyers at the exhibition were beverages, processed and ready to eat products, frozen food, seasonings and spices. However, the non-food and services sectors such as toiletries, body care, hygiene and financial products also contributed RM82.9 million of the RM489.2 million sales generated during the event.

MIHAS 2014 is part of the “World Halal Week” that consists of two major events - Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) and World Halal Conference by two organisations - Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) respectively under the auspices of Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Next year’s MIHAS will take place from 1^st to 4^th April 2015 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), Malaysia.