Halal sector in the world .. Trade trillions of dollars and Turkey is looking for leadership

Walaa Eid - Turkey

The young Malaysian Seer Ihbil Omran was introducing his company's restaurants to visitors gathered around his platform that will attract you as you enter the “Halal World Summit” which ends today in Istanbul, Turkey.

He provides them with some of the foods processed by the Malaysian company, and then redistributes the publications of the company, which opened many restaurants in Turkey, Germany, Manchester, London, Paris, UAE, Kuwait and others.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Omran, who learned Arabic while running the company's restaurants in Medina and Mecca, Saudi Arabia, explained that they are not only working to offer halal products and export them abroad, but also to offer all halal services such as halal tourism in Malaysia.

He stressed that the company's participation in the activities of the seventh edition of the Expo Halal products will contribute to its further spread.

Halal for generations
The Halal Products Exhibition of the OIC Member States opened on Thursday 28 November 2019 at the Eurasia Art and Exhibition Center in Istanbul.

This is the fifth edition of the OIC Halal World Summit and the seventh for the OIC, while this year it bears the slogan "Halal for generations: the importance of family and youth".

50 countries in the exhibition
The exhibition will run until Sunday, December 1, 2019, with the participation of more than 250 local and foreign companies from 50 different countries, specialized in the fields of food, finance, tourism, cosmetics, health, packaging, chemistry and fashion.

In addition to Malaysia, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Afghanistan and Indonesia are participating in the exhibition, as well as Turkey, which has become a global leader in halal products.

Great participation of Turkish companies
The many companies participating in the exhibition reflect Turkey's tendency to develop further in this sector and enter various international markets.

In a press statement two months ago, Esravil Corralay, vice president of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, said that the halal sector in Turkey is growing almost 100% annually.

The director of Turkish HURMATAT companies, Levent Demirce, headquartered in Ankara, explains how his company's products have all expanded from dates.

"We have a lot of branches, and we loved to participate in the exhibition to introduce visitors from all over the world to the importance of using dates in all products. Here we make a drink of date juice, which eliminates the use of sugar completely, and the comfort of the throat, jam, ice cream and various types of food sauces." And the authorities, all of them produce them and export them. "

In addition to the Hormat platform, which exports more than 32 varieties of its date products, other Turkish companies have also recently opened.

First Pasha, an olive coffee company, found an opportunity to showcase what it produces.

The Arab employee, who has worked for the Turkish company since Mona Ali, says that olive coffee is a new idea and is accepted by visitors and drinkers.

She explains in her talk to the island, how to make olive coffee from the olive grains and then dried and converted into olive coffee powder.

As for the benefits of this coffee, which Mona tells everyone who offers him a taste of Cuba, it lowers blood sugar as well as cholesterol.

On the other hand, the Turkish Yerevan, who works for the cheese company Vurallar, was smiling trying to give an idea of ​​their products.

She tells Al Jazeera that their company's headquarters is located in the far north of the country on the border with Armenia, and they are not exported abroad, but only inside the country.

As for their products, especially cheese and butter, which they are famous for, they confirm that they are extracted from animals without any industrial additives, and they seek through the participation in the exhibition to open the prospects for the start of exports to Arab and European countries.

Halal market in numbers
According to the World Economic Report 2018-2019, the number of Muslims in the world reached 1.8 billion people in 2017, representing 24% of the world population. This figure is expected to rise by 70% in 2060, a total of three billion Muslims worldwide.

This significant growth in the number of Muslims is driving the global halal market to the Tigers further, with the global halal market expected to reach $ 9.71 trillion by 2025, up from about $ 3.7 trillion in 2012.

Many countries are competing for the largest share of the halal market, especially as the growth rates of this market are high and the outlook for the future reinforces the idea of ​​its popularity.

However, Turkey strives to distinguish itself from the rest of the countries in this sector. Apart from the largest international exhibition of its kind, the country recently established the so-called "Halal Accreditation Commission" (HAK), which participated for the first time in the current exhibition.

According to previous statements by the President of the World Halal Summit Yunus Eti, Turkey is able to acquire $ 400 billion of the size of the market for halal products.

In the banking sector, the country owns 5% of the Shariah-compliant banks and has $ 55 billion of the Islamic finance market, in addition to the promising tourism sector, which is currently growing strongly in Turkey.

But Turkey is looking to take a leading position in the Halal sector, as the top 10 exporters in the halal market - according to a recent statistic in 2017 - were: India, Brazil, Austria, the United States, Argentina, New Zealand, France, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.

The share of those countries in the market of halal products to 85%, and the share of Muslim countries 15%, led by Malaysia and Indonesia.