The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Malaysia has expressed its interest to hold a weeklong Halal Food Festival in the city from July 22 this year to explore new Malaysian business dimension in Bangladesh.

Visiting Malaysian Deputy Secretary General of Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Mohammad Hashim bin Abdullah formally announced the food festival plan at a press conference yesterday at a local hotel in the capital.

The Halal Malaysia Week-2008, as it was named, will be held at Sheraton and Basundhara City Shopping Mall simultaneously.

The announcement came at the end of a three-day Malaysian Trade Show

(March 20-22) at the same hotel. Malaysian Ambassador in Dhaka Dato' Abdul Malek Bin Abdul Aziz also spoke on the occasion.

Hashim said there is a great prospect of halal food business in Bangladesh as the country has huge population.

He said Malaysia is promoting halal food business in Muslim and non-Muslim countries across the world as halal foods are hygienic and clean from both religious and non-religious points of view.

He said his country wants to work together with Bangladesh to promote halal foods worldwide. "We do have a plan to set up joint venture plants in Bangladesh and produce halal foods for export to the international market," he said.

In the function, three Malaysian and two Bangladesh firms signed memorandums of understanding to launch joint business for halal food production and marketing.