The Halal Industry in Asia

This innovative, open access volume explores the core characteristics of the halal industry through case studies of five East and Southeast Asian countries―Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and China―representing both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority societies. The contributors focus on some of the leading sectors of the Islamic economy, comprising food, finance, pharmaceuticals, and travel and tourism, in order to diagnose the challenges they face and the opportunities that present themselves. Particular attention is given to issues of certification and compliance, quality assurance, human resource development, education, legal frameworks, logistics and supply chains, innovation, sustainability, and growth potential beyond the core Muslim consumers in order to offer a critical assessment of the state of the halal industry in comparative perspective. The book shows that one of the most remarkable features of the world economy over the last two decades has been the emergence and sustained growth of the global halal industry. This has been underpinned by several key factors, including a young and expanding Muslim population, Islamic faith-inspired consumption, and a number of public and private strategies dedicated to halal product and service development. This is a significant achievement, especially given major disruptions and risks such as geopolitical instability, the worsening climate crisis, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainties associated with AI and automation. Academic scholars, university students and others interested in the study of the current state of the halal industry in Asia and broader questions of the global Islamic economy will find this volume an invaluable resource to enable them to understand these pressing challenges and navigate this opportunity landscape.

Rozaidah Idris is an Assistant Professor in leadership at UBD School of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has a PhD in Management Learning and Leadership from Lancaster University Management School, United Kingdom. Her research interests are interdisciplinary. She is currently leading a university research grant on the halal industry in Brunei Darussalam and other countries as well as being a coleader for research on youth employment in agriculture. Her current research focus includes halal studies, public sector leadership, Islamic perspectives on leadership and cultural studies on leadership. Other areas of interest are in human resource development policies, competency frameworks and employability. She represented Brunei Darussalam at the APEC HRD Working Group Meetings under the Capacity Building Network from 2009 to 2014. She has also been invited as a guest speaker and trainer for several leadership development programmes and human resource summits.

Mohammad Ali Tareq is a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. He has a PhD in Business Administration (Finance) from Shiga University, Japan. He is the founder of Yamaguchi University–MJIIT International Joint Intellectual Property Laboratory and the former Deputy Director of the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Centre at Malaysia–Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is also a research fellow and visiting lecturer at Yamaguchi University, Japan, and North South University, Bangladesh. His recent publications (as coauthor) include: Social connections and self-perceived depression: An enhanced model for studying teenagers’ mental wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(23) (2022); and Bibliometrics of functional polymeric biomaterials with bioactive properties prepared by radiation-induced graft copolymerisation: A review. Polymers 14(22) (2022). He is the recipient of the 2020 Literati Award from Emerald Publishers.

Siti Fatimahwati Pehin Dato Musa is an Assistant Professor at UBD School of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development from Newcastle University, United Kingdom. Her area of specialisation is in development economics, focusing on food security, agricultural development and sustainable food systems. Most of her research is interdisciplinary in scope, allowing her to work with experts across various disciplines. She is a recipient of several university grants. Her recent publications (as coauthor) include: Smart farming: Towards a sustainable agri-food system. British Food Journal 123(9) (2021); and Agritourism resilience against Covid-19: Impacts and management strategies. Cogent Social Sciences 7(1) (2021).

Wardah Hakimah Sumardi is an Assistant Professor specialising in marketing at UBD School of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She holds a PhD in business management and a Master in Marketing from Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom. Her research interests focus primarily on service marketing, transformative service, service ecosystem and qualitative research. Her recent publications (as coauthor) include: Halal-tayyiban and sustainable development goals: A SWOT analysis. International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management 13(2) (2022); and, An empirical study of training transfer in an apprenticeship programme for conducive workforce. International Journal of Training Research 21(2) (2023).