Companies targeting growth must increase focus on Muslim consumers, who are now recognised as a strong and growing global segment, said a marketing expert.

According to AT Kearney, a global strategic management consulting firm, companies should consider how to best tap into the Muslim consumer market for Sharia-compliant products and services with a global worth of estimated $2 trillion annually.

It is estimated that 20 per cent of the world's population today are Muslim, yet to date only a few global companies have realised this and aligned their supply chains to be compliant with Islam.

"While businesses have targeted ethnic groups for years, there are relatively few cases of global target segmentation based on religion," said AT Kearney Middle East director Maktoum Al Maktoum.

While some industries are already advanced in terms of aligning their businesses to Sharia, others, from a global perspective, are still in their infancy.

"Growth strategies for the Middle East demand thinking out of the box. Extra care in aligning strategies of global fashion apparel and cosmetic companies present enormous opportunities as the market is sizeable" says A T Kearney Middle East vice-president and managing director Dr Dirk Buchta.-TradeArabia News Service