The ninth edition of the International Halal Expo and the World Halal Summit kicked off in Istanbul on Thursday, under the patronage of the Turkish Presidency, and will continue until next Sunday.
The exhibition’s activities will be held at the Istanbul Exhibition Center next to Ataturk International Airport with the participation of more than 500 Turkish and international companies representing 40 countries, and 40,000 visitors from outside Turkey are expected to participate in the exhibition.
Major industry investors, healthcare institutions, travel agencies, hospitals and experts also participate, and the event also includes the World Halal Summit and direct bilateral meetings.
The exhibition witnesses participation from companies from various countries of the world, and Arab communities and Arab civil society organizations also participate in the exhibition. The first edition of the Eurasia Medical Tourism Exhibition was also opened.
The opening session was attended by Turkish Trade Minister Omer Polat, who gave a speech in which he stressed the importance of the event at the international level and the Islamic world.
Emre Ete, Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Exhibition and Summit, said: “We welcome you to the Halal Expo and World Summit, entitled Uncovering Opportunities in the Halal Trade Economy, which also includes a medical tourism exhibition.”
He added: “These events are sponsored directly by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as this has contributed to the events reaching this level, in addition to the support of Turkish state institutions.”
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He said, “The greatest responsibility of a Muslim is to live in a halal circle, and for that it is necessary for him to achieve a halal summit that includes peace, mercy, love, blessing, good deeds, the strength of truth, and is based on the principle of mutual profit.”
He stated that what Palestine is witnessing “cannot be tolerated through brutal Israeli practices, and is an example of injustice and the tyranny of the strong, not the control of the right as permissible, and the international community must take steps to bring about peace.”
He explained, “The halal market is not only important to Muslims, but to all consumers. In Turkey, there is an effort to encourage this trade and to transform Turkey into a center in this regard. We say from Istanbul that halal is not just a label, but rather an act of values, integrity, and ethics.”
He concluded by saying: “Today, the volume of halal trade in the world has exceeded 7 trillion dollars. We hope that in the next five years it will exceed the barrier of 10 trillion dollars.”
For his part, Ihsan Ogut, Secretary-General of the Institute of Standards and Metrology for Islamic Countries, said: “We are working on procedures for granting declarations and documents for products that meet the appropriate standards for halal products, and to address the challenges in the modern world, where technical committees meet and address developments related to registering standards in the Islamic world.”
He continued: “We are also working to develop the institute’s work and its relations with international organizations, and we work with all our energy through our team to meet the ongoing needs to set standards for halal and provide appropriate certificates for them. This summit plays an important role in this regard and in developing the halal culture according to scientific foundations.”
