World Halal Conference Maiden Visit to Australia to Lift Global Industry

By Karina Imran MELBOURNE, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The World Halal Business Conference (WHBC) Circuit 2022 is set to lift the global halal industry with its maiden visit to Australia, particularly in bilateral trade. Organised by the Halal Development Corporation Bhd (HDC) and supported by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (AUSTRADE) and the Victoria state government, the two-day forum from Sept 1-2 will be held at Pullman Melbourne Albert Park. The main event will be the Thought Leadership Conference featuring six parallel sessions, with 46 panelists, on various subsectors in the halal sector. The top participating countries include Australia, Singapore, India, the Philippines, New Zealand and Canada. HDC chief commercial officer Adly Mohamed told Bernama that Malaysia will focus on strategic business initiatives based on three main pillars, namely investment promotion, trade negotiations and halal skilled talents. The conference will help Australian companies to delve further into the halal industry, and will also enable Malaysian companies to penetrate into the Australian halal market, he said. There will be brand positioning to showcase about 20 Malaysian and Australian companies, scheduled business-to-business discussions and meetings to forge and strengthen business and trade ties, said Adly. It was interesting to see Australia's growth in the industry, their mature halal ecosystem, clean and green production, strict food safety standards and their interest to further develop the industry. This piqued Malaysia's interest, resulting in a more thorough collaboration with Australia, he told Bernama. Participating companies include Duopharma Biotech, Ramly Food Marketing, Fraser & Neave Holdings, Malaysia Airlines, Halal International Selangor, Malaysian Palm Oil Council and the Australian Halal Certifier (Islamic Coordinating Council of Victoria). There will be state government representations from states of Selangor, Sabah and Melaka. Adly expects business collaborations to result from the event. Besides the conference, he said the HDC has been working closely with Austrade and Melbourne's halal-related agencies on knowledge transfer programmes and learning opportunities for Malaysian companies. “We will be keen to learn about the latest technologies in Australia's halal sector,” he said. Prior to this, HDC chief executive officer Hairol Ariffein Sahari said Malaysia's halal industry is expected to generate US$12.49 billion (RM56 billion) export revenue in 2025 versus RM36.3 billion in 2021 as per the 12th Malaysia Plan. It was also reported that Australian exporters will have greater access to Malaysia's rapidly growing food sector, which imports more than AU$190 million worth of halal-certified Australian sheep meat per year, accounting for 71 per cent of all sheep meat in the country. Austrade’s Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Paul Sanda told Bernama that the event presents an opportunity for Australian businesses seeking to access overseas halal markets. "Amid global food insecurity, supply chain issues and disruptions, Australia has remained a strong partner in the two-way halal trade and broader trade relationship with Malaysia," he said. Malaysia was Australia’s third-largest trading partner in ASEAN in 2020 and 11th largest partner overall, he said. -- BERNAMA