28 September 2018•Update: 28 September 2018
BELGRADE, Serbia
The chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegovic on Friday said halal products presented an opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Izetbegovic's remarks came during his visit to Sarajevo Halal Fair 2018.
"I have very good impressions from the fair. There are many manufacturers from all over the world. Halal products are certainly a chance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, we import 50 percent of food in Bosnia, and 50 percent of our land is unprocessed, and this land is clean, not polluted," said Izetbegovic.
Izetbegovic said he learned more about halal products during his visit and pointed out that Bosnia boasted a huge market for halal products.
"Halal [...] is healthy food for people, but what has particularly impressed me is the halal attitude towards animals. Chickens, cattle etc. are treated in a humane manner. The food they eat is also checked and halal," said Izetbegovic.
Meanwhile, Amer Bukvic, CEO of Bosna Bank International, the event organizer, said there was a great interest for the fair.
"As you can see, there is a great interest, a large number of people [...]. We hope that we have made a new trend and that this will be an overture for a multi-year project where we will bring producers and buyers from all over the world to the Sarajevo halal industry which is one of the fastest growing industries in the world," said Bukvic.
Sarajevo Halal Fair 2018 -- the first-ever halal fair in Sarajevo -- hosts around 100 exhibitors from 36 countries.
The fair is to enable the participants from the Balkan countries, including Serbia, Slovenia and Albania, as well as from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and the EU countries to introduce halal food products.
Anadolu Agency is the global communications partner for the three-day event.
