- Economic Zones World announces plan to develop integrated Halal Zones
- Seeks to serve International and regional Halal markets from the two dedicated zones
Economic Zones World (EZW), in collaboration with Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), has today announced the plan to develop two world-class Halal Zones, specifically designed to cater to the regional and international Halal Product markets. The announcement was made at a media event organized at Jafza Stand in Gulfood, being held at Dubai World Trade Centre. The move aims to position Dubai as a “Global Hub for Halal Products”.
HE Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi, Chairman, Economic Zones World, formally rolled out initiative to develop a state-of-the-art Halal Zone in Jafza to serve international markets and another Halal Zone at the TechnoPark to serve the local and regional markets.
Al Shirawi commenting on the group’s visionary plan said: “The move is part of Economic Zones World’s initiative in pursuant to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s clarion call to develop and position Dubai as the world’s Islamic economy capital. Since Halal products and services are one of the key components of Islamic Economy, the EZW’s move is a major step forward in that direction. EZW aspires to become one of the world’s key hubs for halal products trading, services, and manufacturing.
“The initiative will meet the longstanding demand of EZW’s existing, over 700 leading companies in Food & Beverages, Pharmaceutical – healthcare and cosmetics sectors. These companies together generate trade worth AED 16.8 billion. A large number of these companies are engaged in the business of production, marketing and distribution of halal products in their respective sectors.”
Commenting on this occasion, HE Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, Chairman of DFM and Secretary General and member of the board of the DIEDC, said:
“Halal sector is one of the key pillars in the global Islamic Economy. The importance of Halal to the overall Islamic economy can be gauged by the fact that the global Halal market is valued at US $2.3 trillion and it is estimated that one out of every four human beings consumes halal products.
“Given the latent demand, the potential market for Halal products and services is huge and will continue to grow. It is critical, therefore, that an enabling infrastructure, supported by robust standards and regulations is developed to take the industry to the next stage of development. DIEDC will play a critical role in developing the framework to support partner initiatives that will contribute to the growth of this important economic activity.”
EZW plans to develop Halal Zones as all-inclusive hubs, supported with world-class infrastructure, perfectly suited to attract leading enterprises in the entire gamut of halal industry.
Halal Zones will integrate a one-stop-shop system to service each and every need of customers in the halal supply chain, offering ease of doing business.
EZW seeks to collaborate and attract organisations, associations, accreditation bodies, R&D, as well as advisory firms to support the entire halal value chain right from R&D, product development to sourcing, production, logistics, sales and marketing.
The group seeks to promote the Halal Standards globally, which are being evolved through the efforts of Emirates Authority for Standardization & Metrology and Dubai Accreditation Department, to attract enterprises within the Halal industry.
EZW has allocated infrastructure-ready plots of land for Halal Zones in Jafza and TechnoPark. Jafza Halal Zone will be built on an area of over 850,000 square metres while TechnoPark Halal Zone will be spread over a plot of over 700,000 square metres.
Multi-phased EZW Halal Zone Development Plan will also identify laws, regulations, and licencing needs of the Zone and draft laws and regulations accordingly. It will also setup the internal processes and systems to automate different processes.
The Free Zone will also engage in proactive promotion of Dubai Halal standards in existing community and initiation of global marketing campaign.
The value of halal food industries in the world is estimated at USD 2.3 trillion, which accounts for 20 percent of the total food sector in the world. Trade in total halal products will continue to grow at more than 4.8 percent annually to reach about USD 6.4 trillion in 2020.
