A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is sealed between HSBC Amanah and Halal Development Corporation (HDC) to collaborate and support HDC as they embark on their new Greater Islamic Economy initiative comprising Islamic Economy development tools or Muamalat.
Through this MoU, HSBC Amanah will continue to facilitate programs and financial facilities to help spur the growth of the halal export market within the Asia Pacific Region.
Malaysia’s halal export performance rose by 19% to RM36.3 billion in 2021 from RM30.5 billion in 2020, according to HDC. Meanwhile, global consumption of halal goods and services is expected to grow at 3.5% annually to reach USD2.4 trillion by
2024, largely driven by the fast-growing Muslim population.
This collaboration seeks to facilitate Islamic finance activities in the halal industry either for the local market or other international markets for businesses that prioritises Islamic finance.
On top of that, this initiative also seeks to support the country’s Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026 (the Blueprint) whereby Malaysia aims to be a global gateway for Islamic finance markets in Asia and OIC by focusing on value-based finance through Islamic finance leadership. The Blueprint aims to pursue two areas of specialisation that covers sustainable finance and the halal industry.
“These numbers are proof of the importance of the halal industry to the Malaysian economy, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, this year’s first half halal export performance climbed by 75.2% compared to the same period last year which is equivalent to RM30.3 billion. Thus based on these current numbers, it appears the halal industry is recovering sooner than expected. In fact, halal exports for 2022 are anticipated to surpass RM42 billion, above pre-pandemic levels,” Encik Hairol Ariffein Sahari, Chief Executive Officer of HDC said,
“Our newly launched Greater Islamic Economy initiative and this collaborative and synergistically aligned effort between HDC and HSBC Amanah, is key to providing our Halal Integrated Platform (HIP) members with the right financial facilities and development tools as they look to expand their presence in the halal export market within the Asia Pacific Region. Additionally, as we kick start our Greater Islamic Economy initiative, we believe that this new partnership will help to impactful increase the number of halal certified businesses in Malaysia,” he added.
“Connecting customers internationally is what HSBC does best. Our greatest strength is our ability to bridge capital and trade flows between the major economies of the world. Through this MoU with HDC, HSBC Amanah will be able to strategically support businesses who are on HDC’s Halal Integrated Platform (HIP) who intend to expand internationally,” Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa, HSBC Amanah Chief Executive Officer remarked.
“This collaboration will definitely unleash the potential for the multi-trillion-dollar halal industry to facilitate the Malaysia economy as well as help rejuvenate the global economy. As businesses begin to explore opportunities beyond Malaysia, our digital products and solutions including our HSBC Global Wallet-i and Receivable Finance-i will provide them the ability to scale with greater efficiencies including time and cost savings, productivity and security. These capabilities are what will set them apart in today’s competitive halal export market,” Raja Amir added.
Source : Business Today