First Australia Halal Trade Expo 2006

The first ever international halal trade show in Australia was received favorably by Australians with more than 6000 visitors in attendance.

The event -- held over a period of four days between September 16 -19, 2006 in Melbourne , "exceeded our highest expectations" said Amir Said, managing director of Australia Halal Trade Pty Ltd.

"We had a small window of opportunity to organise this event and against all odds we tried our best; however, we didn't expect this numbers which really overwhelmed us".

The historical event officiated by Hon. Andre Haermeyer, minister for manufacturing and export, Victoria , Australia . "There is tremendous opportunities in that (halal) area through trade links and exports and we expect to grow into southeast Asia and middle east to A$12 billion by 2010", said the minister who is also small business and financial services minister for Victoria.

Mayor John So echoed the minister's sentiment by saying that the halal event "really puts Melbourne on the world map" and that he invites all Melbournians to "eat halal, live halal and trade halal."

Abdalhamid Evans of Kuala Lumpur 's International Halal Alliance Industry who is also part of the prestigious World Halal Forum said that the market for halal products is "in excess of half a trillion US dollars annually". This does not include the financial services markets which he describes pose "one of the most important sectors for halal export" for Australia .

The event also included a halal conference which was attended by key speakers from halal compliant countries Malaysia , Singapore and Australia . Speakers at the conference included World Halal Forum director, Nordin Abdullah, Muslim Community Co-operative Australia general manager, Dr Rahim Ghouse and founder of Al-Kauthar Institute, Australia, Tawfique Chowdhury.

Religious representatives at the conference who presented papers were Che Hassan Pahmi Haji Che Mat, division director of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, JAKIM and Abdul Rahim Saleh, director of assets, Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, MUIS.

Prominent Australian halal conscious industry representatives also made presentations at the conference and included the Chairman of Halal Committee for Australia Meat Industry Council, Jon Hayes, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Halal Coordinator, Mohamad A Rahman and Meat and Livestock Australia, Marketing Service Manager, David Jones.

Significantly, Australia's first halal trade exposition and conference was held for four days between 16 - 19 September, 2006 at the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) is listed in UNESCO's World Heritage as the sole surviving public building constructed entirely of wood. REB is also credited to be the first public building to host the first convention in Australia in 1880. It is popular among Melbournians who endear the building because of its historical beginnings and centrality within the city of Melbourne . Its functionality draws visitors to Melbourne regularly as well.

Australia Halal Trade will be an annual event and will take place next year in Sydney. Please refer to www.australiahalaltrade.com.au for updates.