Malaysia Offers Scholarships To Ningxian-Hui Students For Halal Studies

YINCHUAN (Ningxia), Sept 13 (Bernama) — The signing of a
mutually-acknowledged halal food agreement between Malaysia and the
Ningxia Hui autonomous region, will generate much business prospects in
the future.

In anticipation of this, two local universities, namely the
Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) and the Universiti Putra Malaysia
are offering five scholarships each to Ningxian-Hui students for
postgraduate studies in halal management.

The scholarships are being offered through the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC).

The letter of offer was handed over by the HDC chairman, Tan Sri
Syed Jalaludin Syed Salim, to Ningxian governor Wang Zhengwei on the
sidelines of The 3rd China(Ningxia)International Halal Food/Muslim
Commodities Festival and Ningxia Investment and Trade Fair 2008,held
over four days here starting Sept 9.

According to HDCs vice president, halal intergrity, Mariam Abdul
Latif, the scholarships would foster a closer relationship between
Ningxia and Malaysia.

“Education is a lifelong learning process. Besides looking at
technology transfer in offering the scholarships, Malaysia is also
considering the global impact of such a move over the long term,” she
told Bernama.

“Besides the postgraduate study offer for halal management in food
processing, the two universities will also consider opportunties for
Ningxia students to undertake courses which include linguistics and
international business,” she added.

The HDC delegation led by Syed Jalaludin utilised the trade fair
as a platform to promote local halal products and services as well as
explore opportunities arising from the presence of more than 3,000
participants from around the world.

The yearly event is the one of the largest trade fairs held in
China.It draws the support of 17 provinces or regions in China,
including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

As the only autonomous region of China for the Hui or muslim
people, Ningxia has witnessed the development of its halal food
industry to include a wide range of products and of a high quality.

Marking its 50th anniversary of its establishment as an autonomous
region, the government of Ningxia has also sponsored The 1st China
(Ningxia) Hui Merchants Conference, the 2nd China (Ningxia)
International Cashmere Expo and the 4th Featured Agriculture Expo of
the West of China.

Located in north-west China, Ningxia covers an area of 66,400sq
km. It has a population of six million, of which 35 percent are muslim.

The HDC has been tasked to further boost the halal agenda in terms
of standards development, branding enhancement as well as commercial
and industry development.

In the spirit of co-operation and collaboration, HDC will leverage
and utilise existing Malaysian know-how to build partnerships around
the world and ultimately enable more people to benefit from the
positive attributes associated with halal products and services.

— BERNAMA