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A shot in the arm

Starting a Halal World Food Exhibition (HWFE) this year to complement the Gulf Food Exhibition (Gulfood), the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality trade show, is a major boost for the halal food industry as well as Dubai’s position as a halal food trade stronghold.

While Gulfood is in its 19th year and the HWFE has just taken its first baby step, it has immense potential to become the biggest annual halal food-sourcing trade exhibition in the world amidst forecasts of a booming halal food industry. The government of Dubai commissioned a report on the market last year and it estimated that the sector was worth $1 trillion annually, or about 20 per cent of the global food market. A major chunk of it revolves round the GCC countries. The Economist Intelligence Unit assesses that the GCC’s halal food imports would exceed $53.1 billion by 2020 while the UAE’s own annual halal food imports would cross $8.4 billion. The event would also generate interest in investors in Africa, the West, Malaysia and Indonesia, Pakistan and even the remote Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China wth its sizeable Muslim population that is seeking to start Islamic banking. As Helal Almarri, Dubai World Trade Centre CEO and director-general, Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said, “As the primary trading hub of the MENA region, which boasts the highest concentration of Muslims of any global region, Dubai’s geographical position makes it the ideal location to serve at the convergence of Islamic finance and the halal food industry — key drivers of international Islamic economics.”

Besides bringing businesses and investors together, HWFE’s value further lies in assembling government representatives, policymakers and experts under the same roof to discuss halal certifications and standardisations and how the standards can be implemented across the globe. The fact that Dubai’s leaders have taken a special interest in the event — evinced by the visit by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Crown Prince Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, makes it a logical sequel to the government’s initiative in October to make Dubai the capital of Islamic economy.