Malaysia Offers Scholarships To Ningxian-Hui Students For Halal Studies

Bernama -- The signing of a mutually-acknowledged halal food agreement between Malaysia and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, will generate much business prospects in the future.

In anticipation of this, two local universities, namely the Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) and the Universiti Putra Malaysia are offering five scholarships each to Ningxian-Hui students for postgraduate studies in halal management.

The scholarships are being offered through the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC).
The letter of offer was handed over by the HDC chairman, Tan Sri Syed Jalaludin Syed Salim, to Ningxian governor Wang Zhengwei on the sidelines of The 3rd China(Ningxia)International Halal Food/Muslim Commodities Festival and Ningxia Investment and Trade Fair 2008,held over four days here starting Sept 9.

According to HDCs vice president, halal intergrity, Mariam Abdul Latif, the scholarships would foster a closer relationship between Ningxia and Malaysia.

"Education is a lifelong learning process. Besides looking at technology transfer in offering the scholarships, Malaysia is also considering the global impact of such a move over the long term," she told Bernama.

"Besides the postgraduate study offer for halal management in food processing, the two universities will also consider opportunties for Ningxia students to undertake courses which include linguistics and international business," she added.

The HDC delegation led by Syed Jalaludin utilised the trade fair as a platform to promote local halal products and services as well as explore opportunities arising from the presence of more than 3,000 participants from around the world.

The yearly event is the one of the largest trade fairs held in China.It draws the support of 17 provinces or regions in China, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

As the only autonomous region of China for the Hui or muslim people, Ningxia has witnessed the development of its halal food industry to include a wide range of products and of a high quality.

Marking its 50th anniversary of its establishment as an autonomous region, the government of Ningxia has also sponsored The 1st China (Ningxia) Hui Merchants Conference, the 2nd China (Ningxia) International Cashmere Expo and the 4th Featured Agriculture Expo of the West of China.

Located in north-west China, Ningxia covers an area of 66,400sq km. It has a population of six million, of which 35 percent are muslim.

The HDC has been tasked to further boost the halal agenda in terms of standards development, branding enhancement as well as commercial and industry development.

In the spirit of co-operation and collaboration, HDC will leverage and utilise existing Malaysian know-how to build partnerships around the world and ultimately enable more people to benefit from the positive attributes associated with halal products and services.