By Sarafina Christopher, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, was a beehive from Sept. 23 to Sept. 26 as the Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) 2026 brought together participants from all over the world.
The event, held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur, attracted more than 69,104 visitors from 93 countries, marking the highest attendance since the showcase began in 2004.
Nigeria was a notable participant in MIHA 2026. With a bilateral trade volume of 1.23 billion dollars, the country has become Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner in Africa and 43rd globally.
MIHAS 2026, generated RM6.78 billion (about 1.66 billion U.S. dollars) in sales, exceeding its RM5 billion target.
But the significance of the showcase extends beyond the value of transactions recorded during four days.
What is emerging is a different model of trade exhibition, one that combines business matching, artificial intelligence, market intelligence and export opportunities to keep commercial connections active beyond the exhibition floor.
The exhibition brought exhibitors and International Sourcing Programme buyers from 58 countries together, with the sourcing programme generating RM4.02 billion in sales and the exhibition recording about RM1.99 billion.
The figures demonstrate the commercial scale of MIHAS. But the more important question is what happens between the display of a product and the completion of a transaction.
For an international trade exhibition, attracting buyers is only the beginning.
Analysts note that businesses must find partners, understand markets, comply with standards, secure financing, manage logistics, and maintain relationships after an event.
To this end, MIHAS 2026 integrated these functions into a single ecosystem, driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AbuBakar Yusof, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), said the integration of Agentic AI was helping to make MIHAS more connected and digitally enabled.
More than 22,000 AI-assisted business appointments were generated during the showcase, with 324 matches reporting RM28 million in sales associated with completed AI-assisted appointments.
The AI platform is expected to remain operational until 2027, extending some of the business-matching function beyond the physical exhibition.
Zach Othman, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lekir Tech AI Solutions and FinTech, said the system was designed to understand users’ requirements and connect suppliers, buyers, distributors and resellers with potential partners.
“It generated match scores, facilitated appointments and supported automated follow-ups.
“For buyers, the technology addressed a practical problem,’’ he said.
Rachel Waithira, Operations Manager of Trunreal Enterprises Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya, said the system reduced the time she spent searching through exhibition stands by identifying businesses relevant to her interests.
Also Esther Mutua, Director of Aspiring Trixxy General Supplies Ltd., Nairobi, also used the platform while searching for skincare products, particularly those targeted at women experiencing hormonal imbalance.
Experts say their experiences illustrate how technology can change the function of a large exhibition.
Instead of leaving buyers to navigate hundreds of exhibitors independently, the platform attempts to narrow the search according to specific commercial needs.
But matching buyers and sellers does not automatically create sustained trade.
That is where the MIHAS Knowledge Hub becomes important.
MATRADE has been transforming the Hub from an event-based resource into a year-round trade intelligence platform incorporating AI-driven content curation, digital programming and market information.
The objective is to give businesses access to information that can help them understand international markets, buyer expectations and regulatory requirements even after the exhibition closes.
This reflects a broader understanding of what successful export development requires.
A business may have a product that attracts buyers, but international expansion can still be constrained by standards, financing, production capacity, logistics, branding and knowledge of the target market.
MIHAS is therefore expanding the conversation beyond the product itself.
That wider approach is particularly evident in the way the showcase defines the halal economy.
Food remains a major component, but MIHAS covers pharmaceuticals, healthcare, cosmetics, modest fashion, Islamic finance, tourism, technology and services.
Chef Amina Elshafei, an Australian culinary personality and former MasterChef Australia contestant, said understanding halal also required looking beyond certification.
Elshafei described halal as a lifestyle encompassing the choice and purpose of ingredients, food preparation, hygiene, processing and nourishment.
“Halal encompasses more than that, which is the lifestyle, and understanding the purpose of ingredients, understanding the purpose of how it’s used, and how it should be eaten.”
With Egyptian and Korean heritage and a culinary background shaped by Saudi Arabia and Australia, Elshafei said exposure to different cultures had deepened her understanding of food traditions and ingredients.
She said halal also involved how food, particularly meat and other proteins, was handled and processed, as well as greater awareness of food choices and nourishment.
Her perspective adds a consumer dimension to the commercial discussions at MIHAS.
The halal market is not simply about placing a certification mark on a product. It also involves standards, trust, preparation, consumption and the values associated with food.
Elshafei also highlighted food as a vehicle for cultural exchange, saying greater interaction could promote appreciation of African cuisines and encourage different culinary traditions to reach wider audiences.
She said her interactions with African friends in Australia had deepened her appreciation of Nigerian cuisine.
“I do love my jollof rice!” she said.
Women entrepreneurship is another area through which MIHAS is broadening its reach.
The 2026 edition introduced Women in Export, WiEX, bringing 80 women entrepreneurs, including 20 from outside Malaysia, into exhibition opportunities, business networking and access to financing.
Dr Sharifah Syed, Director, Corporate Branding and Communication Strategist at Adamaya Legacy, used the platform to unveil Sharlein, a unisex fragrance, while promoting contemporary Songket fashion.
Her approach combined traditional Malaysian textile heritage with designs intended to appeal to younger consumers and international markets.
“You think local but you go global,” she said.
Her participation also generated interest from Korean buyers in incorporating her batik into hanbok designs.
The development demonstrates how international exhibitions can expose traditional products to uses and markets that may not have been considered within their original commercial setting.
MIHAS also continues to broaden the types of innovation presented under the halal economy.
Mr Gavin Chan, Sales Executive of Asia Farm F&B Ltd., showcased kitchen lighting technology designed to help preserve the natural state of food and reduce spoilage.
Such products demonstrate how the exhibition has moved beyond the narrow perception of halal as food alone, bringing technology, sustainability and business solutions into the wider ecosystem.
The growing participation of small and medium enterprises provides another indication of this shift.
Malaysian SMEs generated RM620 million in sales at MIHAS 2026, compared with RM557 million in 2025.
Their participation increased from 64 companies in 2021 to 339 in 2026, representing a 429.7 per cent rise.
For these businesses, the value of MIHAS extends beyond displaying products.
It provides access to buyers, business networks, market information, financing opportunities and international exposure that may otherwise be difficult for smaller companies to obtain.
This helps explain why the exhibition is increasingly functioning as more than a four-day marketplace.
The physical event creates the concentration of buyers and sellers. The digital platforms extend the connections.
The Knowledge Hub provides information, while business-matching systems help identify potential partners and programmes such as WiEX create targeted opportunities for entrepreneurs.
The model also changes how success can be measured.
The RM6.78 billion in sales provides an immediate measure of commercial activity, but the more significant question is whether the relationships created at MIHAS continue beyond the exhibition.
When a buyer discovers a supplier through the AI platform and uses the Knowledge Hub to place repeat orders, it creates a much more enduring outcome than a single showcase transaction.
The same applies to SMEs and women-owned businesses gaining access to international buyers, financing and networks that can support their expansion.
For observers, the true significance lies in MIHAS’ evolution.
The exhibition has moved beyond simple physical meetings between buyers and sellers; it now builds structured systems around these interactions to enhance discovery, share information, and keep commercial networks active.
Consequently, its RM6.78 billion in sales captures only a fraction of its true impact.
The eventual measure of success will be whether the thousands of initial connections mature into long-term business partnerships, repeat orders, and broader access to global markets.
Ultimately, analysts say the true value of MIHAS 2026 depends not just on the revenue generated during the four-day event, but on how much of that business thrives long after the showcase ends.(NANFeatures)
Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo
(NAN)
