This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 28, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) will work with the Department of Education Region V and Naga City of the Philippines to jointly develop a halal park there.

DNeX, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Global Market eCommerce Sdn Bhd, had recently signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the two parties to jointly develop the halal park.

Under the MoUs, DNeX is given the exclusive rights to undertake several initiatives for the halal park including research and development and certification of product and services within the park.

The initiatives also include establishing and managing the halal logistics within the park, providing halal-related training, and marketing internationally all certified halal products within the park. DNeX has also agreed to establish a halal certification body for the park.

DNeX executive deputy chairman Datuk Samsul Husin said the opportunity in the halal industry is vast, with Muslims accounting for about a quarter of the more than seven billion population worldwide.

“This opportunity can only grow as the halal concept takes a stronger foothold,” he added in a statement yesterday.

He noted that a segment of the halal industry increasingly gaining attention and where DNeX has a strong interest in is halal logistics, defined as ensuring halal integrity in the flow of products and goods throughout the supply chain.

DNeX currently operates GoHalal eMarketplace for the halal industry, where companies or individuals get suppliers or buyers for their products and services as well as obtain and exchange information on the industry with a click.