500 booths at bigger, better Halfest Fiesta Asean
KUALA LUMPUR: The Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) and Shapers Malaysia have promised a bigger and better Halal Fiesta Asean (Halfest Asean 2017).
Visitors can expect 500 booths featuring innovative and quality halal products and services during the event, which will be held from August 23-27 at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre in Seri Kembangan, Selangor.
Activities featured at the event include business-matching sessions, street food kiosks, pocket talks and halal clinics.
The pocket talks and halal clinics will be a chance for local entrepreneurs to strengthen their halal certification and enhance the marketing of their products and services.
HDC chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin said many local entrepreneurs believed that simply possessing a halal logo was a passport for them to sell their products internationally, but too many had failed look deeper.
Local entrepreneurs, he said, did not give enough priority to competitive pricing, branding, packaging and quality.
“We plan to nurture these companies as they have the potential to grow bigger and penetrate the world market.
“Most of the participants of Halfest are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a number are micro-companies.
“This is a platform for these companies to gain knowledge and prepare themselves to go bigger and be ready for the Malaysian International Halal Showcase (Mihas).
“We want to ensure that ‘halal SMEs’ from Malaysia have the opportunity to be exposed internationally,” he said yesterday.
HDC, said Jamil, would be hosting a mini-seminar on halal opportunities in Asean and had invited retailers, buyers and distributors from countries in the region to be matched with exhibitors.
The Superb Halal Chefpreneur Challenge will also take centre stage during the five-day event, providing a platform for young entrepreneurs interested in producing innovative and creative products that have commercialisation potential.
Teraju chief executive officer Datuk Husni Salleh said 74 people had registered to compete to produce the best new food and beverage product in the market.
“There will be five winners, and each will receive RM50,000 worth of prizes. These include promotions as well as training and development for three years,” he said.
Jamil also hoped to encourage more Bumiputera companies to join the halal industry.
There was still space for them to grow in the halal market, he said, adding that this was where Bumiputera entrepreneurs could allow their presence to be felt.