CIMB taps on growing halal market with ASEAN-China Halal Corridor

CIMB Group Holdings has unveiled the CIMB ASEAN-China Halal Corridor, an enhanced trade network linking halal businesses across China and the region. Leveraging CIMB's strategic partnerships and ASEAN footprint, the initiative will focus on agribusiness, cosmetics, F&B, modest fashion and pharmaceuticals.It also aims to leverage on the growing trade flow along the existing halal corridor, especially with China's halal sector expected to reach US$1.9 trillion by 2021 and a potential customer base of 266 million in ASEAN and China, the bank said in a press statement.CIMB's group CEO Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz said Malaysia’s leadership in the halal industry, the country's key industry players’ value proposition in their respective fields and CIMB’s expertise in Islamic finance globally are strong key success factors for this initiative."The CIMB ASEAN-China Halal Corridor initiative aims to facilitate a seamless trade journey to encourage entrepreneurship and enable more SMEs to tap into the huge potential of the ASEAN-China Halal market," he said.Meanwhile, the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2018 (GMTI) confirmed the Muslim travel market is on course to continue its fast-paced growth to reach US$220 billion in 2020. It is expected to grow a further US$80 billion to hit US$300 billion by 2026.GMTI also ranked Malaysia as the top destination for the global Muslim travel market among Organisation of Islamic Cooperation destinations. The ranking, which covers 130 destinations including Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines, gave Malaysia a score of 80.6 out of 100.According to the ranking, there are seven key drivers that will continue to shape the rapid growth of the global halal travel market – growing Muslim population; growing middle class/disposable income; younger population; increasing access to travel information; increasing availability of Muslim-friendly travel services and facilities; Ramadan travel and business travel. The ranking noted that the Muslim middle class continues to rise in destinations with large Muslim populations, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Gulf countries.(Photo courtesy: 123RF)Read also:Dagang NeXchange unveils halal platform in the PhilippinesSnacks food factory raided by JAIS and Jakim for misuse of halal logo