Matrade Eyes Japanese Participation At Mihas 2009
From Tengku Noor Shamsiah
TOKYO,
March 18 (Bernama) — Japanese importers are expected to explore the
possibility of tapping halal food industry at the coming sixth Malaysia
International Halal Showcase 2009 (Mihas 2009).
“We are now working to get some food importers from Japan to
participate in Mihas 2009 and explore the potential industry,” Malaysia
External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) trade commissioner in Japan,
Yuslinawati Mohd Yusof, told Bernama.
The Mihas 2009 will be held from May 6-10 at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Yuslinawati said apart from giving the Japanese importers a look at
Mihas and explore the opportunities, Matrade would also arrange the
business-matching sessions for them.
She said Matrade’s offices overseas would try to attract importers from all over the world.
Yuslinawati said Matrade has identified potential Japanese participants.
However, she said, it was unfortunate that Mihas 2009 coincided with the Japanese Golden Week Holiday.
“If not for the holiday, the participation from the Japanese will be tremendous,” she said.
She said there were plenty of opportunities for Malaysian exporters to
enter the Japanese market, particularly in the food industry.
“Japan is only 40 percent food sufficient and 60 percent is imported.
“The country, which currently depends on China for their food imports,
was looking for new food sources from other countries, including
Malaysia,” she said.
Mihas is rapidly becoming the world’s premier showcase of halal products and services.
In conjunction with Mihas 2009, the Halal Industry Development Corp
will be organising the “The World Halal Research 2009” conference from
May 7-8.
The conference is aimed at providing a platform for scientists,
researchers, scholars and academicians to discuss and exchange ideas on
new research findings, emerging technologies, trends, issues and
challenges in the global halal industry.