{"id":9852,"date":"2021-06-08T12:46:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T04:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=9852"},"modified":"2021-06-08T12:46:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T04:46:37","slug":"senegal-a-strategic-gateway-to-halal-industry-in-west-africa-hdc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=9852","title":{"rendered":"Senegal a strategic gateway to halal industry in West Africa &#8211; HDC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>KUALA LUMPUR, June 8&nbsp;&#8212;&nbsp;African countries, especially Senegal, offer immense business opportunities to exporters from various sectors&nbsp;as the continent grapples to meet the rising needs of an emerging economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, it is the right time for Malaysian companies to enter the African market, said&nbsp;Halal Development Corporation Bhd\u2019s (HDC) chief executive officer Hairol Ariffein Sahari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said sectors such as food and beverages, automotive and parts, food processing and agriculture machinery, as well as information and communications technology services&nbsp;stand to benefit from the&nbsp;available opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would like to reiterate HDC\u2019s willingness to work with the West African region, especially Senegal, on increasing self-sufficiency in halal food, as well as\u00a0halal pharmaceuticals, halal medical devices and even halal ingredients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png\" alt=\"senegal\" class=\"wp-image-9853\" width=\"520\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png 585w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44-181x100.png 181w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44-350x194.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur objective is to increase Malaysia halal exports and investment to&nbsp;halal parks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also urged&nbsp;multinational corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the West African region to consider working together to build a stronger halal community that could reach and supply to other Muslim populations in other regions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hairol Ariffein said this&nbsp;during&nbsp;the 6th Dakar International Islamic Finance Forum, themed \u201cWest Africa-Malaysia: Building the Bridge of Islamic Economy\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organised by the African Institute of Islamic Finance (AIIF)&nbsp;together with&nbsp;HDC,&nbsp;the Dakar International Islamic Finance Forum 2021 was held with support from the Government of Senegal as well as&nbsp;the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) as their strategic partner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hairol Ariffein noted that Senegal is one of the most politically stable countries in Africa, and is one of the fastest-growing economies in West Africa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In August 2020, HDC&nbsp;signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AIIF&nbsp;to focus on consultation and advisory services to support the establishment of halal ecosystem in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, which includes knowledge sharing, promotion and awareness activities, joint research and halal training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The smart partnership would help the Senegal&nbsp;government in meeting its halal agenda in developing and implementing an integrated and sustainable halal industry ecosystem, said&nbsp;Hairol Ariffein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would like to assure the Senegal&nbsp;government that HDC is committed to making&nbsp;Senegal&nbsp;a gateway for the West African region by&nbsp;gaining international acceptance as a prominent halal industry reference centre, while simultaneously fostering strategic partnerships and alliance internationally,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&nbsp;noted that Malaysia has&nbsp;been at&nbsp;the forefront in the growth of the global halal industry in terms of&nbsp;economic activities and social awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysia also became the reference point for best practices in the development of halal standards and business processes,&nbsp;while&nbsp;nurturing growth and participation of local businesses in the global halal market, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur continued efforts to lead and drive the development of Islamic Finance, especially the Islamic Digital Economy, as well as efforts to bring together industry players and Shariah advisors to proactively engage and contribute towards the development of Malaysia\u2019s Islamic Digital Economy, have indeed been recognised.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs a Muslim nation with an advanced halal industry, Malaysia is always open to working with any government&nbsp;to further enhance and grow the global halal sector, especially in the areas of Islamic Finance, logistics and services,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hairol Ariffein noted that Malaysia\u2019s talent pool is full of&nbsp;young, educated and productive minds with the necessary skill set for science-and-service-based industries like the halal industry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that moving forward, the nation&nbsp;plans&nbsp;to further strengthen the infrastructure to enhance&nbsp;the halal industry\u2019s&nbsp;contribution to the country\u2019s economy, which currently accounts for around 7.8 per cent of the country\u2019s gross domestic product and created over 350,000 new jobs for the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bernama.com\/en\/news.php?id=1969654\">BERNAMA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KUALA LUMPUR, June 8&nbsp;&#8212;&nbsp;African countries, especially Senegal, offer immense business opportunities to exporters from various&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44-300x166.png",300,166,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-08-at-12.44.44.png",585,324,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?cat=524\" rel=\"category\">Nation<\/a>","tag_info":"Nation","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9854,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852\/revisions\/9854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}