(MENAFN- Morocco World News) Two Malaysian economic groups have launched a new logo to promote halal products made by Muslims.
The objective of the logo and worldwide marketing campaign is to boost the economic power of buying solely from Islamic businesses and/or countries The new logo is a joint venture of the Malaysian Institute of International Islamic Corporation (IKIAM) and the Malaysian Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA). Both organizations report that the market for halal and Muslim-manufactured products is expanding exponentially. They are hoping their efforts will encourage more Muslim-held companies to cash in and share in the Islamic market. 'The need for another halal logo is to distinguish products that were produced by Muslims against that of non-Muslims,' said RISDA Chairman Zahidi Zainul Abidin, which will help 'Muslim entrepreneurs make forays into the halal markets locally and abroad.' Both organizations plan to market the logo within Malaysia and throughout the world. Halal – or 'permissible' in Arabic – mostly governs what observant Muslims are allowed to eat. Pork and its by-products and alcohol are forbidden by the Koran. However, Halal standards also apply to products such as cosmetics, which can contain animal-derived products, and how food and other products are prepared and stored. 'At the regional level, for example, a Muslim company with 60 branches across China has recently asked Risda to supply halal products to them. So, halal business opportunity abounds,' Zahidi said in the London-based Independent. Last year Malaysia launched its first halal-compliant airline. All meals on Rayani Air are halal, alcohol consumption is prohibited, and there are prayer recitals before taking off and upon landing. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and the global halal food market is worth $632bn (£487bn), or 16% of the global food industry, the United States Halal Association says, and the global Shariah-compliant product market is worth more than $2 trillion annually. data-ad-client="ca-pub-9546318280945074" data-ad-slot="9241175969"> jQuery.ajax({ url: "http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/", data: { top_ten_id: 197491, top_ten_blog_id: 1, activate_counter: 11, top10_rnd: (new Date()).getTime() + "-" + Math.floor(Math.random() * 100000) } });