World Halal Conference 2020 (WHC2020) took place on 6th October 2020 at the Malaysia International Trade and
Exhibition Centre (MITEC) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This year theme was Halal Community Driving The New World Economy.
The World Halal Conference (WHC) is an international thought leadership conference held annually converging government representatives, business leaders, halal industry players, entrepreneurs, scholars and stakeholders from all over the world to Kuala Lumpur, with the common aspiration to further accelerate global halal industry growth. This conference has also in the past, provided the ideal platform for intellectual discourse on issues pivotal to halal industry development and also inspired wealth creation from technology breakthrough and innovation.
I was one of the panelists on the topic of Driving the growth of the halal economy through Islamic finance. As a financial technologists, I shared my perspectives on Islamic Digital Economy as a conduit for future growth of halal industry.
As we are going through 4th industrial revolution (IR 4.0) which has been further accelerated by the change in consumer behaviour due to Covid-19 pandemic, the role of digital economy is going to become more prominent.
Main components Islamic Digital Economy that I see as important to form an ecosystem:
- e-Commerce platforms for halal products and services – cheaper to set up, wider market coverage
- Social media for target marketing
- e-payment platforms to facilitate online payments
- Digital funding such as crowdfunding and P2P lending to raise fund for business expansion
- Digital investment platform – more convenient and cost-effective investment opportunities for those who have extra money while at the same time would be able to support those who in needs of funding for their business
These pillars need to be present in an ecosystem that supports each other. When such Islamic Digital Economy pillars work harmoniously in a complete eco-system, it will definitely accelerate efficiency thus leads to halal industry growth significantly. I would say that, as the foundation of Islamic Digital Economy, technology is a key determinant in the success of halal industry.
I also shared my thoughts on what needs to change or be reimagined so smart collaboration in the Islamic financial services industry can happen. The key to this is for Islamic FIs to leverage on partner ecosystems.
- Partner with retailers such as 7 Eleven, petrol stations, My News etc. Use their retail outlet as customer touch points – more cost effective and wider reach outs
- Partner with fintech companies with complementary services for example e-kyc provider for digital onboarding – FIs focus on what they are good at and let the technology companies to focus on technological innovations
- Open up by publishing APIs for 3rd party service providers to connect to – payment platform, wealth management solutions, etc. – open up to more trendy and convenient services for superior customer experience
Here’s the recording