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@ Halal | July-August . 2022

BY FATIHAH MANAF

Being the leader in Malaysia ’ s halal development , Halal Development Corporation Behad ( HDC ) strives to expand the country ’ s halal footprints globally . As one of its efforts to strengthen the halal branding , HDC will organise the World Halal Business Conference Circuit 2022 in Melbourne , Australia , on Sept 1-2 , 2022 .

“ When I took the position two years ago , my promise to the board of directors was to do things differently . If we keep doing the same thing as we did for the past 13 to 14 years since HDC was incorporated , we will see the same result ,” said Hairol Ariffien Sahari , Chief Executive Officer of HDC .

Hairol stated he was very consistent with his approach and target , which is to internationalise halal , the halal agenda and HDC as the critical player in halal ecosystem development , representing the Malaysian government .

Bringing the World Halal Business Conference to the next level

Sharing the differences between the World Halal Business Conference Circuit 2022 and the previous edition of the conference , Hairol said : “ The keywords here are World and Circuit . The World Halal Business Conference is already an established brand , and we have been organising it for the past 14 years . It is time for HDC to take it to the next level .”

With the conference now being held outside of Malaysia , it will be able to bring

new speakers that can share their experience in the halal development journey . This new approach allows HDC to internationalise the World Halal Business Conference Circuit and make it a global brand , true to the “ World ” keyword in its name .

“ The second keyword is Circuit . Just like the Formula One Circuit , it is not one race ; it is a race in many countries . Same as halal . Halal is premium . We want other countries to participate in these premium products and agendas . While we are talking about Melbourne , Australia , other countries are knocking on our door wanting to be the host for the next World Halal Business Conference Circuit .

“ We are looking at at least two countries per year . If things go well , we can have five countries every two years . Now , we are going to Melbourne . Next is the UK . Taiwan and Qatar are also knocking on our door .

“ We are not letting go of the World Halal Business Conference Circuit . After two or three years , the conference will return to Kuala Lumpur , maybe in 2025 , and we can have a huge event . By that time , I believe that we would already have gathered all those new speakers , new knowledge , and new experience , which we get from the other side of the world and bring it back and share with Malaysia .”

When asked about HDC ’ s target for the conference , Hairol explained : “ If you ask for the many events before this , there ’ s always a target like RM300 million of investment , etc . But that ’ s not the key target for this business conference circuit because it ’ s a network . The world needs to be connected , and we are looking more on assisting our players in setting up a proper footprint in other countries .”

“ We are not putting any numbers in trade or investment , but we are looking forward to helping our partners and industry players establish their halal footprints .”

Melbourne as the first destination for the circuit

Hairol revealed that HDC had a couple of options when choosing the foremost destination for the World Halal Business Conference Circuit . The corporation then decided to pick a country where Malaysia has a powerful Government to Government ( G2G ) cooperation regarding halal .

“ We are lucky because the Australian government was the first to engage us . We choose Australia because Australia is not a greenfield in halal . We have solid ties regarding halal