The World Halal Summit is set to kick off Monday, bringing together industry players and investors for the sixth time.
Organized under the theme "Halal for All: Halal in All Aspects, from Production to Consumption," the event will take place at the Pullman Convention Center in Istanbul and run through Wednesday.
The summit's main media sponsor is Daily Sabah, and it has been organized by Discover Events on behalf of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).
The world’s largest halal event, the summit aims to bring to light the latest developments and updates related to the halal sector, with the participation of international academicians and fiqh experts from all over the globe.
Some 67 senior speakers from 25 different countries attended last year’s summit. The annual event has been held in previous years under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency, the Trade Ministry and other prominent institutions.
Last year’s summit included conferences in areas such as halal food, cosmetics, tourism, pharmaceuticals, conservative clothing, Islamic finance and Islamic life.
The summit looks to raise halal awareness by hosting conferences where halal-related topics in finance, tourism, food, medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, textile, modest fashion and other sectors are discussed.
In addition, a virtual halal fair in Turkey, E-Halal Expo, will take place online as of today and run through Thursday.
This year’s World Halal Summit will be held in a hybrid form with physical and online international participation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As for the E-Halal Expo, it provides commercial visitors, purchasers, qualified professionals, industry leaders and investors from all over the world an opportunity to introduce and showcase their works and offers participants a space to showcase their products and services. The platform will allow commercial visitors to meet and interact with their customers via various interaction options such as Skype, WhatsApp and Zoom.
"With the COVID-19 outbreak, we are renewing and improving the way we trade," said Yunus Ete, World Halal Summit organization chairperson and chairperson of the board of directors of Discover Events.
"This event, which will take place on our specially developed virtual platform, will provide collaborative interaction between participants, qualified visitors and sponsors. This platform was designed to include the main exhibition area, exhibition halls, realistic 360-degree navigable stands, network and conference areas," Ete said in a statement.
The E-Halal Expo, he noted, offers an opportunity to establish collaborations with qualified buyers, meet new partners, establish contacts and make deals as in real fairs.
Ete also elaborated on today’s trends in healthy living and healthy nutrition, stressing these have become vital particularly as the pandemic continues.
"The whole world is now striving to achieve healthy, reliable products and services. Although halal food, halal products and services are actually thought to be intended only for Muslims, non-Muslims are now also looking for halal-certified products in order to reach healthy and reliable foods," Ete noted.