Global Interest in halal, shariah compliant food and non-food products and services is at an all time high. The time is NOW and IIF 2008 is THE event that meets the needs of consumers and businesses.
Islamic Products and Services (IP&S), the way IIF sees it, are everything a Muslim uses or consumes. Traditionally, it has been halal products – mostly food and drinks. But like everyone else, a Muslim also uses non-food products such as soap, shampoo, cooking oil and petrol. He/she also buys shirts, shoes, cars, television sets, computers, mobile telephones, machines, DVDs, etc.
Type “A” IP&S as those “distinctly Islamic” products and services produced by Muslims or non-Muslims – items such as halal (approved for consumption) meat and prayer mats. Type “B” IP&S are defined as “normal” but non-haram (non-forbidden) products and services produced by Muslims or Muslim countries. Simply put, Type “A” IP&S opens up opportunities for all manufacturers and suppliers – Muslim or non-Muslim while Type “B” talks about products & services from “Muslim countries” with the assurance that everything traded under the IP&S label, as defined by IIF, is Shariah compliant.
There’s something for everyone with 25 Categories (up from 16 initially in 2006) that includes: 1 Agriculture; 2 Banking, Insurance & Finance; 3 Books & Media Mktg/Publishing; 4 Broadcasting; 5 Building Materials; 6 Career & Profession; 7 Computer & Electronics; 8 Culture & Art; 9 Da’wah & Social Work; 10 Development Projects; 11 Education & Training; 12 Energy & Logistics; 13 Food & Drinks; 14 Government Agencies; 15 Health & Safety; 16 Household Items, Clothing & Footwear; 17 Housing & Real Estate; 18 Jewelry, Gifts & Decoration; 19 Machinery, Vehicles, Electricals & Furniture; 20 Nasheed & Entertainment; 21 Retailing & Franchising; 22 Security & Defense; 23 Shares & Capital Markets; 24 Telecommunication; and 25 Travels & Recreation
The recent global credit crisis has suddenly thrust Islamic banking and it’s Shari’ah compliant products and services into the spotlight as a financial system that exposes both borrowers and lenders to less risk. While western media strive to understand the principles of Islamic finance, questions are being asked “Is Islamic finance answer to crisis?”. In his article, Robert E. Michael, an international insolvency and finance lawyer who has created and led the Islamic law program at the New York City Bar Association writes:
THE HOTTEST TOPIC in the Islamic intellectual world in the West is whether the financial meltdown and Wall Street collapse of the last year would not have happened if we had an Islamic system of finance instead of 20th Century capitalism. The answer is clearly yes, but for two mutually exclusive reasons. On the one hand, it is clear that, properly employed, Quranic restrictions would have prevented the excesses of leverage and gambling on derivatives that led to the current collapse; on the other hand, however, those same restrictions would have prevented our Western economies from reaching anywhere near the levels of size and complexity we enjoy that make it possible for such enormous problems to occur…(Read more here )
Bernama reports here Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan had said the Islamic system was expanding not only in Muslim world but also in other countries where Muslims are minorities like in Britain, France, United States or Japan. Surin said while the world financial system was in turmoil and sending shock waves across the globe, trends in Islamic banking and halal food industry was encouraging and positive.
“Islam forbids interest and insists on investment in productive activities. It builds in protection from turmoils that is currently affecting economies in North America and Europe,”he said.
In fact, he said more and more Western leaders and financial research houses are promoting Sukuk as a way of financing.
“The Kuwait Commerce Minister was quoted as saying that the global crisis will prompt more countries to use Islamic financing to run their economies,” he said.
According to Surin, global sukuk was estimated at over US$90 billion, of which half are Malaysian domestic bonds and the remainder from the Gulf states.
He said the total volume was expected to reach US$200 billion by 2010.
Surin also said many Gulf countries with huge amount of funds at their disposal are seeking to invest in agriculture, halal food processing and marketing in the region.
News reports from the United Arab Emirates also points the way for the nation, poised as the gateway to the Middle East, to take the lead in shari’ah compliant food and non-food products and services. This report says that while most countries in the Middle East and North Africa regard almost all Shariah-compliant products as halal, countries in South East Asia limit this designation to food products.
The UAE has never required businesses to label halal products. According to Mr Reyaysa, halal brands wishing to enter the UAE market are required to submit a certificate from an Islamic association in their own country that has been recognised by the embassy of the UAE in that country.
Demand for more Shariah-compliant products is on the rise. Research conducted by Brand Union has found that 70 per cent of Muslims worldwide follow halal standards to some degree.
The industry could easily account for 20 per cent of world trade in food products by 2025, according to the Canadian government’s Agri-Food Trade Service. However, most of the companies gathered at this year’s Halal World Expo noted that they were not just marketing their products to Muslims.
The International Islamic Fair this year, the IIF 2008, is making an historic journey that will take the prestigious event out of Malaysia to the first of many world destinations – Dubai, United Arab Emirates. IIF 2008 is the fast train, the IIF2008 Express, that will take its message of peace and bringing Islamic Products and Services to the good people of the world. If, in future, the world’s fastest train is projected to be able to hit 581 km/h as reported 
International Islamic Fair 2008 
