Top halal industry stakeholders are set to meet at a summit that seeks to create awareness on halal products and services, and emphasises on business transactions between local and international organisations.

The Malaysia International Halal Showcase (Mihas), as part of the World Halal Summit (WHS), will run March 30 to April 4 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), Malaysia.

The Malaysian government continues to place the country on the global halal map as a viable and attractive trade and investment destination through its the WHS, said a statement.

WHS will feature a trade fair and six subject-focused forums hosted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia (MITI), it said.

The event is being jointly organised by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC).

Co-organised and managed by Shapers Malaysia Sdn Bhd, several educational institutions such as the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) will also join forces as the event's strategic partners.

Mihas will showcase good quality products and services and provide an opportunity for new networking prospects and business partnerships among businesses around the world.

Dr Wong Lai Sum, chief executive officer of Matrade, said: "Mihas offers local and international businesses an avenue to reach out to the right target audience to market their Halal products and services."

A total of 640 booths have been allocated for exhibitors and thus far enterprises from Belgium, mainland China, France, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, US, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey have pledged their participation in the event.

"Last year, Mihas has generated a total sale of $291.4 million. Sales from the exhibition alone were recorded at $147.5 million, and $143.9 million were from the business matching. In line with the increasing interest in the global Islamic economy sectors, we expect the sales record from Mihas 2015 to increase tremendously this year," Dr Sum said.

The six other forums to be organised include the eighth World Halal Conference (WHC), the sixth Jakim International Halal Certification Bodies Convention, the Certifiers Forum, Scholars Forum, Academics Forum and the Business Forum. - TradeArabia News Service