Kuala Lumpur, May 7, 2007 - Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), the company established to direct and co-ordinate the development of halal industry, today signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Malaysia to develop the Malaysian Halal Hub Open XML System for the international halal market.

HDC and Microsoft will further develop proof-of-concept of the system before jointly promoting its usage to key Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, with Malaysia playing a key role in the deployment of all of all halal-related ICT solutions throughout the Islamic world.

The Malaysian Halal Hub Open XML System is also seen as an integral part of Malaysia’s Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3) 2006-2020, specifically to further establish Malaysia as the global halal hub for the production and trade of halal goods and services.

The OIC is an international organisation grouping 57 states established on on 12 Rajab 1389H (25 September 1969) in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco to safeguard the interests while securing the progress and well-being of Muslims worldwide.

The agreement was signed by both parties during the World Halal Forum 2007. It was witnessed by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and World Halal Forum (WHF) 2007 Chairman Khairy Jamaluddin. Signing on behalf of HDC was Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Jamal Bidin, while Microsoft was represented by Managing Director Yasmin Mahmood.

“Microsoft is truly proud to be collaborating with HDC on a system that promises to further establish Malaysia as the hub for the production and trade in halal goods and services,” said Yasmin.

“This is an important milestone for us, and today’s signing is a new chapter in our ongoing efforts to continue Malaysianising Microsoft,” she further said.

As its name implies, the system is based on the Open XML. Open XML in turn is an international open standard approved by ECMA International, a highly respected standardisation body that has developed hundreds of international technology standards over the past 46 years.

“What’s more, the Malaysian Halal Hub Open XML System provides for easier and better integration than other competing technologies, and empowers administrators and users with greater choice, flexibility and innovation which will be particularly important given that the system is designed to cater for the needs of the international halal community.”

The Malaysian Halal Hub Open XML System consists of three main components:
- Halal Product Exchange Centre, a one-stop Internet Portal for global halal trading;
- Halal Research Knowledge Centre, a repository of pertinent information on halal and related market intelligence, and
- Remote Halal Certification, a centralised web based system which will facilitate the international halal certification process.