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@ Halal | September-October . 2021

BY FATIHAH MANAF

Organised by HDC and hosted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia ( MITI ), the event would focus on avenues to discuss and resolve issues relevant to the halal industry . It will also act as a catalyst that will inspire and aspire economic growth as well as wealth creation resulting from technological breakthroughs and innovation .

“ Today , the halal industry has become an integral part of the Malaysian economy . Halal is now an entire ecosystem of interactive communities made up of various types of industry stakeholders , along with their physical environments .

“ As a thriving ecosystem , halal boosts the economy and is also in a position to provide a more meaningful recovery to each stakeholder via further training , developments and collaborations ,” said Hairol during the virtual event .

He highlighted the cooperation between halal players from the public and private sector also embraced the significance of digitalisation .

Hairol then spoke with @ Halal on various topics including WHBC 2021 , Malaysia ’ s halal development , Malaysia ’ s participation in the World Expo Dubai , Halal Integrated Platform ( HIP ) and HDC ’ s partnership with Bank Islam .

World Halal Conference ( WHC ) is now rebranded as World Halal Business Conference ( WHBC ) from 2021 . Why has the focus shifted from the halal industry to halal business ? The focus has not shifted . Industry development is still the way forward as far as our halal ecosystem development agenda is concerned . So basically , it is a rebranding exercise . I will take it as a change of mindset to make the conference more interesting , covering a wider spectrum of stakeholders and clients .

The issue is not many people understand what industry development is . It is very hard to explain to certain people as it may sound so exclusive . It may sound too ‘ government ’ or too ‘ academic ’. Only policymakers understand what it is all about .

So during past events , the intellectual discussions never graduated from hovering around issues and challenges . They talked about concepts . It got more boring each year . We were like cheerleaders who told the whole world of the opportunities which halal industry offered to the players . But we never really guided the players on how to participate in the supply chain , how to lead the game and what are the solutions to be offered . So all this while we ’ re dribbling too much and actually no one is scoring . We want to be the players .

I am not saying that we did it wrong . No , it was the right decision during that period of time . My predecessor did very well to promote this halal industry , Malaysia ’ s halal ecosystem , etc . Because of that , the whole world knows about the World Halal Conference . However , the current economic situation demands a bull response . So , we cannot expect a different result by doing the same old things . That is my strategy .

Now , we added the word ‘ business ’. ‘ Business ’ means trade , investment , quality employment , and most importantly , business means transaction . So , we need to convert our halal ideas , concepts and even philosophy , into something that can generate wealth to the people , community and country .

So for HDC , we changed our corporate vision to make halal the first choice in business ventures . We want people to think halal first , in doing business , investment and employment . HDC will develop the industry by developing businesses for all our ecosystem community . For us , the more vibrant the business environment is , the better the industry will be . So that is the energy behind the rebranding World Halal Conference to the World Halal Business Conference .

HDC will be spearheading Malaysia ’ s halal investment mission during the Halal Cluster Week in the World Expo Dubai . How does HDC plan to solidify our leadership position in halal industry to the world ? Firstly , I would like to thank the Ministry of Science , Technology & Innovation ( MOSTI ) who has given us this opportunity . It ’ s an honour when they recognised HDC ’ s role as a central coordinating agency when it comes to all matters regarding halal ecosystem development in Malaysia . I cannot disclose much because the element of surprise will not be there later . But , I can share what we planned to do over there .

The mandate given to HDC is to lead the delegation which means we will bring some significant stakeholders related to the halal ecosystem development in Malaysia over there to showcase our strategy in developing our own halal ecosystem .

The KPI is that we must bring home trade and investment value of RM350 million over two years time . It ’ s a huge KPI and it is not something that HDC can achieve alone . So