18/04/2014 06:42 AST
The recently announced Halal Zones in Jafza and TechnoPark, highlighted during Jafza Business Seminar held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, in Malaysia, have aroused strong business interest among Malaysian investors for Jafza facilities at the Free Zone, which is regarded as the gateway to serve the entire Middle East region.
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The forum was attended by 60 leading manufacturers and exporters mainly from food, healthcare, beauty, technology, and oil and gas sectors besides the top UAE and Malaysian dignitaries including Eiman Ahmed Al Hashemi, Head of Consul Affairs Department, UAE Embassy in Malaysia, Dato Sri Mir Khan, Executive Chairman, Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Dato Dzulkifli, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).
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The Jafza Business Seminar and Roadshow in Malaysia was led by Ibrahim Mohamed Al Janahi, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer, Adil Al Zarooni, Senior Vice President, Khalid Al Marzooqi, Senior Manager - Asia Pacific, Abdulaziz Redha, Assistant Manager - Jafza Sales and Mania Merrikhi, Project Manager, Marketing.
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Ibrahim Al Janahi speaking at the business seminar said: “Rapidly increasing demand for halal products in the Middle East, in particular, and globally, in general, has made Halal one of the most important sectors in the global economy. Global Halal Products market is currently valued at $2.3 trillion, which accounts for more than 20 per cent of total food market of the world. Trade in Halal products will continue to grow at more than 4.8 per cent annually to reach about 6.4 trillion in 2020. The sector, therefore, provides huge opportunities for global investors.”
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Jafza had a stand at the Malaysia International Halal 2014 Showcase (MIHAS), which is one of the leading industry events on Halal products in the world.
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During MIHAS Jafza officials met several top government officials including Dato Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, State Minister for Domestic Trade and Chairman Penang International Halal Hub, Dato Sri Mustapa Mohammed, Minister for International Trade and Industry and Prince Sulaiman Shah, Chairman, Malaysia-UAE Business Council, to discuss various opportunities to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two sides. They also met the Executive Chairman of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, which is the world’s 2nd largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations.
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Jafza is currently home to 16 Malaysian multi-nationals. The UAE-Malaysia trade is estimated to have crossed $8 billion in 2013 while non-oil trade between Jafza and Malaysia during the same period is estimated to have crossed $5 billion.
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Adil Al Zarooni made a presentation at the seminar on Economic Zones World (EZW) roadmap to develop Halal Zones as all-inclusive hubs, supported with world-class infrastructure, perfectly suited to attract leading enterprises in the entire gamut of halal industry.
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Speaking about the EZW Halal Zones Al Zarooni said: “Halal Zones will integrate a one-stop-shop system to service each and every need of customers in the halal supply chain, offering ease of doing business.”
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EZW has allocated infrastructure-ready plots of land for Halal Zones in Jafza and TechnoPark. Jafza Halal Zone will be built on an area of over 850,000 square metres while TechnoPark Halal Zone will be spread over a plot of over 700,000 square metres.
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Khalid Al Marzooqi, Senior Manager — Asia Pacific in his presentation highlighted Jafza’s key value propositions and the free zone’s status as the trade and logistics hub for the Middle East and Africa. He also highlighted huge opportunities for Malaysian companies in the region, which they can take advantage of, from the free zone. He also talked about “matajircom”, the world’s first purpose-built smart retail hub, being developed at the TechnoPark.
The Gulf Today
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