The world’s first Halal Food Index was launched yesterday at The 6th World Halal Forum confirming the strong convergence between the Halal industry and Islamic finance.

World Halal Forum Director Abdalhamid Evans talks about the two megatrends emerging within the coming decade for the global Halal industry and how they would influence the general business world.

As the world wakes up to the sweet smell of Halal and its lucrative potential, Malaysia is readying the stage for what may well be the most significant turning point in the industry, one that will resonate throughout the decade and beyond.

Get ready for a week of intense knowledge and opportunities as Malaysia once again hosts the Halal Malaysia Week combining three world-class events in one distinctive arena.

European Commission’s Amendment 205, which proposed that non-stunned Kosher and Halal meat be labelled in a negative manner, was clearly a discriminatory proposal, said World Halal Forum Europe.

The World Halal Forum Europe held recently in London sent a strong message to manufacturers and retail chains to understand Islam and respect Muslim consumers first before tapping the global halal market.

A four-way agreement to establish an international alliance on Halal accreditation was signed at the World Halal Forum Europe 2010 in London, bringing a harmonised Halal standard closer.

The European halal food market has long since achieved a turnover of billions, bigger than the Arab region, and is supplied by Muslim and non-Muslim producers from all over the world.

The recently-concluded World Halal Forum-Europe panel of experts announced they will make a stand against the EU Halal Meat Labeling Act as it is detrimental to the Halal industry overall.

A series of recent events relating to the Halal market in Europe all point to the fact that the Halal sector is starting to come of age, and with age comes responsibilities, and dilemmas.