In its second edition that ran on the 29th and the 30th of November 2023, successfully brought together over 120 entrepreneurs from Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Pattani, 30 November 2023 – Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Luthfi Japakiya, the Rector of Fatoni University, Thailand – who represented the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate of Thailand, as well as the Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Wan Muhammad Noor Matha – inaugurated the ASEAN HALAL EXPO 2023 (AHEX ’23) at the ASEAN MALL Wakaf shopping centre in Pattani, Thailand.

AHEX ’23, in its second edition that ran on the 29th and the 30th of November 2023, successfully brought together over 120 entrepreneurs from Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. In line with the Malaysian government’s aspirations to foster more export entrepreneurs, AHEX ’23 collaborated with Malaysian government agencies such as SME Bank, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP), Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), Ministry of Agriculture and Food Assurance (KPKM), Kedah Entrepreneur Development Unit (UPUK), Kelantan Economic Planning Unit (UPEN Kelantan), National Cooperative Movement of Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA), and Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA), all of which assisted in providing financing to entrepreneurs who participated in the expo. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad also sponsored AHEX ’23.

UNITI Asia Link Sdn Bhd (UAL), which is an export management company, collaborated with One Stop Center Co. Ltd. (OSC), a Thai import company, including the owner and manager of ASEAN Mall cum the organiser of the AHEX ’23 UNITI Group Co. Ltd. (UG), anticipated around 50,000 visitors from Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces, besides guests from other countries, to come to the expo.

AHEX ’23 successfully attracted an increasing number of expo visitors compared to AHEX ’22, including a projected increase of over 100% in sales and orders compared to the previous year. AHEX ’23 attracted more than 25 major Thai companies as buyers of halal products by 50 Malaysian and Singaporean companies.

Among the activities held during AHEX ’23 were Halal Business Talk, forums, business pitching, business matching, business networking, children’s art competition, e-sports competition, and nasyid performances by Global Ikhwan. Several Memoranda of Understanding were signed between Malaysian and Thai companies to sell Malaysian and Singaporean halal products in Thailand.

UNITI Office Sdn Bhd, a company within the UNITI Asia Group, will launch a Virtual Office branch at the ASEAN MALL, Pattani, to provide affordable office facilities for ASEAN entrepreneurs. This initiative aims to provide entrepreneurs with a professional business premise in Pattani to conduct their business activities and enhance networking, fostering business development in Thailand.

Additionally, welfare programmes during AHEX ’23 were organised at the same time to assist the Pattani community. The UNITI Foundation, in collaboration with UNITI Waqi and UNITI Asia Retails Co. Ltd, contributed donations to over 200 poor individuals in Pattani via the “BantuPattani” programme. Meanwhile, the Malaysian company MyMedical HealthCare offered free circumcision services to underprivileged children in Southern Thailand.

The annual ASEAN HALAL EXPO serves as a platform for Malaysian entrepreneurs and those from other ASEAN countries to export their halal products to Thailand, making ASEAN MALL the gateway for their products to penetrate the Indochina market.

The success of the collaboration between UNITI Asia Group, a Malaysian company, and Pattani-based companies in developing the ASEAN MALL in Pattani, as well as in staging the annual ASEAN HALAL EXPO, reflects the Thai and Malaysian governments’ desire to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in border development, particularly in Southern Thailand.