@Halal April 2019 | Page 12

12 @Halal | april-may. 2019 Cover story trending Halal is at Malaysia Halal Expo 2019 Malaysian halal industry heading to Japan Olympics with MHE2019 G aining momentum from the signing of Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in Halal between Malaysia and Japan, Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED) together with support by SME Corp and key stra- tegic partners namely Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia (KBS), Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Association of Islamic Banking Institu- tion Malaysia (AIBIM), have organised the Malaysia Halal Expo 2019 (MHE2019). The expo which was held from 24-26 January 2019 at the Kuala Lumpur Conven- tion Centre acted as a key step forward towards implementing the cooperation. networking opportunities in the excit- ing and ever-expanding Japanese Halal market. The three-day exhibition witnessed the setting up of 320 exhibition booths for halal products and services under six clusters, namely processed food and beverages (F&B), cosmetics, halal ingredients, logistics and services, biotechnology, personal care and pharmaceuticals. The exhibition also includes participation from Islamic finan- cial institutions, government agencies and government-linked companies (GLCs). YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof (second from left) together with Dr Maiko Miyagawa officiating MHE2019, the exhibition to bring local SMEs into international Japanese market during Tokyo Olympics 2020. Malaysia SMEs to Japan With the theme, ‘Malaysia to Japan for 2020 Olympics’, MHE2019 was jointly officiated by YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and His Excellency Dr Maiko Miyagawa, Ambas- sador of Japan to Malaysia. MHE2019 is one of the initiatives to kick-start the promo- tion of halal products and services in Japan leading to Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2020 (Tokyo 2020). MHE2019 is poised to prepare local SMEs towards Tokyo 2020. The expo provided a platform to explore vast trading and One of the highlights from MHE2019 was the pocket talk sessions, where selected SME founders gave their professional opinions and hopes to have their products sold in Japan. The going-ons Activities highlighted in the event include pocket talk sessions featuring topics rang- ing from learning the current business trends to requirements to do business in Japan and business matching sessions. The sessions provided an excellent avenue for SMEs to network and forge business linkages with large companies and multi- national corporations (MNCs) from Japan such as MHC Co. Ltd., Yatsumoto Tsusho Co. Ltd, Family Mart, Asia Trading & Services Co. Ltd and Hayabusa International. Anchor companies from Malaysia such as Tesco Stores Malaysia, Ramly Food Marketing Sdn Bhd, Nestle Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd and Aeon Big Malaysia also participated during the sessions.