THE first-ever Global Halal Exporters Forum (GHEF) was held at the NCIA building in Bukit Minyak recently.
Organised by Penang Halal International, GHEF is a forum comprising a series of small events connecting wholesale buyers from different markets worldwide to Penang entrepreneurs.
The inaugural GHEF on March 20 focused on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) series, connecting Penang entrepreneurs with one of the biggest wholesale buyers in the GCC market, Grand Hypermarket, which has over 90 hypermarkets and supermarket outlets across five countries in the GCC and India, with more than 6,500 employees.
More than 80 entrepreneurs, including big manufacturers with RM40 – RM300 million per annum export volume, as well as domestic wholesale buyers in Penang and Malaysia were present at the event. Other notable attendees included senior officials from Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) Penang, Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Penang, Perda, and many more.
The forum began with a special remark by Tomas Guerrero Blanco, the director of the Halal Trade & Marketing Centre in Dubai, UAE; followed by another special remark by Mohd Zahirul Naqi Shoaib, the consul for Agriculture of the Consulate General of Malaysia in the UAE.
This was followed by an opening remark by state Entrepreneurial Development, Trade, and Industry Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain.
After the speeches, there was a panel discussion with Grand Hypermarket managing director Dr Anvar Ameen and its retail operations general manager Abbas Khan. The session was moderated by PHI chief executive officer Fazil Irwan Som.
For more details, email [email protected] or call the PHI secretariat at 604-262 5444.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix courtesy of PHI