The marketing of certified
products that follow Halal food standards, prepared according to
Islamic tradition, could become a significant factor in the
Italian economy and make the country a halal "hub" a conference
heard Monday.
"Islamic finance and capital are ready to pull Europe - and
Italy, in particular - out of crisis," according to participants
at the World Halal Food Council (WHFC) in Rome.
Halal products are a global market worth 13 trillion euros
per year, growing 15% annually and reaching two billion Muslims,
event organizers said.
The stipulation for Italy is that food standards must
follow Halal, or "conformance" standards in production,
logistics and commercialization that are all consistent with the
precepts of Sharia, the laws that establish what is licit or
prohibited for a Muslim.
The event, organized by the Italian section of the Halal
International Authority (HIA), the only organism recognized for
the quality certification for products according to Islamic
standards, gathered together representatives of the 57 Islamic
states of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the
first time in Italy.
"We are willing to invest in Italy, which we want to see
become the hub of the Halal market in the Mediterranean,"
explained the Saudi sheik Fahah Alared, a member of the
Committee for Islamization of Banks.
An important step was made during the Roman WHFC meeting.
"We have signed an protocol agreement with the government
agency of Malaysia for the development of the Halal market (and)
for the birth of the 'Italy Halal Hub'," he added.
In this way, "Malaysia, the largest Halal market in the
world, will make its experience available to Italy, which will
become the leading Halal hub in Europe, serving countries of the
Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, the Balkans and obviously
European countries," the sheik added.
Development would be based on "Islamic financing, which
does not allow the application of interest, as it would be a
capital sin (and would see) investment through equity
partnerships and the acquisition of company shares" with direct
action "also in failing companies".
Interested sectors range from food to clothing to tourism
to medicines, cosmetics and body treatments.
Among the 270 Italian companies that are already
Halal-certified, many have seen production "grow to point of not
being able to keep up with orders coming from southeast Asia,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia," according to Alared.
These companies would meet with sheiks "willing to open new
branches and hire personnel," he added.
"We are ready to invest also in infrastructure, but Italy
must guarantee us official recognition of the Halal market,
making certification mandatory among companies that are
interested".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA