Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 February 2025 – A series of workshops on ‘Halal Park 2.0’ was organized by KLCoE to further enhance the Halal ecosystem development in Malaysia, being the first country to announce its ambition 15 years ago to become the global Halal hub. Currently, there are 22 Halal parks across Malaysia, developed by both state governments and the private sector.

The ‘Halal Park 2.0’ is an initiative by KLCoE through a systematic assessment on how to improvise the existing Halal Parks that is potentially becoming strategic vehicles to create more advanced Halal ecosystems in anchoring Halal production assets and supply networks among IsDB Member countries. This initiative includes pilots for Malaysia, and upon its successful completion, these advanced halal ecosystems can be replicated in other IsDB Member countries.

The series of workshops were attended by a targeted group of stakeholders ranging from (i) renowned multinational Halal product manufacturers such as Nestle, Duopharma and Pharmaniaga (ii) Halal Logistic companies (iii) Halal Industrial parks operators and (iv) Islamic Financial Institutions such as Islamic Banks, Agriculture Bank and Cooperative Banks. The workshops aimed to gain insights from the key players and stakeholders on the prospects of developing Halal Park 2.0 and ultimately to develop the ‘functional design’ of a new generation of Halal Parks.

Prior to organizing the workshops, KLCoE undertook a series of consultations with key government agencies that are part of the Halal ecosystem, such as the Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM), Halal Development Corporation (HDC), Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Universiti Putra Malaysia Halal Products Research Institute (HPRI) and the International Center for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF).

The discussions with these agencies centered around halal industry policies and halal regulatory issues, research on Halal products, amplifying intra-OIC trade through the supply chain and leveraging the Halal Parks as a special purpose vehicle in attracting foreign direct investment into Malaysia.