The Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) in collaboration with the Halal Trade and Marketing Center (HTMC), will host a free webinar to train export-ready businesses in the food and beverages industry on halal market trade opportunities, halal compliance, halal certification & halal marking for products.
The free webinar will take place on the 7th of November 2023 at 10 a.m. (Eswatini time) on Microsoft Teams.
The HTMC is a Dubai-based global business development center focused on Halal economy opportunities for manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors of Halal products and services.
The Halal market refers to a market in which the buyers are from the Muslim community and are members of the Islamic Faith. There are regulations that need to be followed in the preparation of products for this market to ensure that their religious beliefs are respected and accommodated in production.
In a Press Release EIPA disclosed that the workshop will look at the whole value chain of the halal economy from the supply chain to producing, processing, packaging, and labelling for products to be halal compliant.
It will also focus on the market trends of halal consumers their spending power and other relevant information.
Sibusiso Mnisi, Manager of External Trade at EIPA gives context on the objective of the training.
“Participants can register for the training by visiting https://forms.gle/ARU8NUFrkMaVhA1n7. The objective of the training is to create awareness amongst our traders on the vast market opportunities in the halal economy, their size in population, and their spending power. It’s one way in which EIPA is trying to help our traders diversify markets locally and especially, in global markets. In a case where you export products that are not halal, it means the Muslim community will not buy from you. We would like to equip traders with the knowledge they need to comply with these requirements and provide a product that is in line with demand in these markets.”
According to PopulationReview.com, by population, the Halal market is estimated to be in the region of 1.8 billion people globally. This is just over 20% of the world’s population.
It is estimated that this market has a combined spending power of 1.2 trillion US$ (US Dollars) in the food and beverages industry alone. Some examples with a high Muslim population include Egypt where 94% of the population (90 million people) are Muslim and Turkey where 98% (84 million people) of the country’s citizens observe Islam.
In South Africa, the Muslim community is in the minority standing at 1.8% (roughly 1 million people). The Muslim community in Eswatini stands at 2% totalling in the region of 6000 people. Though these numbers are low in comparison to other regions around the world, the figures still represent a viable market for export.
Mnisi concludes, “We would like to encourage businesses in the food and beverages sector all around Eswatini to participate in this training. By attending, they will receive critical information on how to diversify their product offerings and market reach. Attendees can expect to be exposed to first-hand information on the Halal market and what its intricacies are. As the business community is aware, each market has its requirements and these need to be met to successfully export products to them. This training is also in line with the vision of The Ministry of Commerce Industry and Trade’s mandate to drive the formation of a private sector-led export-driven economy which fits into EIPA’s trade mandate to increase trade activity in Eswatini through export and domestic trade.”