Hawzah News Agency –Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) is a thriving marketplace for both international and local businesses to capitalize on prospects beyond Halal food, such as Halal pharmaceutical, medical equipment, finance, modest fashion, personal care and cosmetics, green technologies, and even Muslim-friendly tourism.
MIHAS 2021 was held in MITEC Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre Kuala Lampur on 9to 12September 2021. However, given the continually changing nature of the pandemic crisis, MIHAS showcased its first virtual edition from 9th September onwards, concluding on 31st December 2021.
MIHAS 2021 Virtual Edition featured virtual exhibition booths with full multimedia microsites, MIHAS Connect with A.I. aided business matching suite, matching relevant MIHAS exhibitors to trade visitors, and MIHAS Connect with A.I. helped business matching suite. There were also LIVE knowledge sharing events and conferences with industry captains and market leaders, LIVE Chat sessions, and a business meeting room and scheduler to help visitors network.
MIHAS 2021 had generated RM985.3m total sales in just the first four days receiving over 8,500 virtual visitors comprising local and international companies. For the first four-days of Mihas 2021, sectors that recorded the highest total sales were Islamic financial services (RM380.9 million with 38.7% of total share), beverages (RM217.5 million, 22.1%), pharmaceutical, toiletries and cosmetics (RM123.2 million, 12.5%), prepared food (RM80.0 million, 8.1%), and palm oil products (RM 57.1 million or 5.8%).
This longest-running halal exhibition at the end generated more than RM2bil in export sales when the virtual exhibition and the International Sourcing Programme were combined. The premier halal showcase also saw an increase in the number of international companies participating, demonstrating the global business community’s trust in the trade fair. In addition, first-time attendees from Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Colombia attended the event via the virtual platform.
According to Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) CEO Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, Mihas has clearly made a strong comeback despite two years of absence and being presented for the first time through a virtual format.
Matrade is confident that the 18th edition of Mihas in 2022 will be on a larger scale, with a commitment to ongoing synergy between physical and virtual forms in order to reach out to more halal industry players and promote the nation’s economic recovery.