The event was co-hosted by the Institute for African and Middle East Studies (IAMES) and the Institute for Religious Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.

The Muslim people currently represents nearly 30% of the world’s population and  is a market with expected to grow to the total value of USD 1,972 billion by 2024 with the growth rate of about 6.3% per year. However, this is a difficulty market with Halal standards, in order to provide products and services to this market, Vietnam business community has to meet Halal certification requirements.

Speaking at the event, Assoc. Prof Lê Phước Minh, General Director of IAMES said the workshop aims to clarify impacts of Islam culture to society of Muslim countries and raises awareness of Halal industry, contributing to open new markets with potentials for Vietnam businesses.

The Vietnam Muslim community currently has over 80,000 followers mostly residing in 12 Vietnamese cities and provinces. At present, Vietnam only has about 20 export items to the Halal market, and 40% of Vietnamese localities lack certified Halal export products.

Even with many potentials in agriculture, foods, tourists, textiles, etc and free trade agreements with foreign countries, Vietnam still has a modest share in the Halal market worldwide, not commensurate with its potential.

During the gathering, scholars and experts discussed to clarify the Islamic cultural aspects, including customs, practices, taboos of the Muslim community in the world and Vietnam, with the aim to raise public awareness of the Halal industry among Vietnamese policymakers, managers, researchers, businesses and people.

PH