Day three of MIHAS 2026 opened with fairly encouraging news for organisers: the showcase has already drawn 30,000 visitors in just the first two days, and remains on track to hit its target of 50,000 business visitors across the four-day event. If this trend continues, the 22nd edition of MIHAS could become the most attended edition in its history.
This year's scale is substantial. MIHAS 2026 features 2,000 booths, 1,700 exhibitors, and 450 buyers representing 58 countries — figures that reaffirm MIHAS's position as one of the world's largest halal trade exhibitions. This visitor growth also tracks with rising international interest in the halal industry as a whole.
Beyond visitor numbers, MIHAS 2026 is also cementing its role as a platform for genuine international partnerships. One key milestone today was the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between MATRADE and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) — a strategic collaboration marking a new chapter of cross-institutional cooperation in Malaysia's halal sector. This agreement deserves its own deeper look elsewhere, but its presence on day three underscores that MIHAS isn't just about company-to-company trade — it's also about building long-term institutional infrastructure.
Beyond institutional partnerships, MIHAS 2026 also offers a complete support ecosystem for halal businesses. MATRADE's Knowledge Hub delivers direct market insights from industry leaders, including representatives from DHL Express Malaysia, UOB Malaysia, and Farm Fresh Malaysia — giving exhibitors practical access to knowledge on logistics, financing, and supply chains. Meanwhile, the Women in Export (WiEX) initiative showcases 80 women-led booths, reaffirming MIHAS's commitment to inclusivity within the halal industry.
These achievements are also celebrated through the MIHAS Awards, which recognise exhibitors with standout accomplishments in product innovation, sustainability, and global market expansion. The awards serve as a marker that MIHAS isn't just about transaction volume, but also about quality and the industry's future direction.
What makes this year's milestone even more meaningful is its historical context. Since its first edition in 2004, MIHAS has generated more than RM35 billion in export sales and drawn over half a million business visitors from around the world. Seen against two decades of MIHAS's journey, 30,000 visitors in just two days shows just how rapidly global interest in the halal industry is growing — and how important Malaysia's position within it has become.
For exhibitors and buyers on the ground at MITEC, this visitor surge isn't just an abstract statistic. It means more business meeting opportunities, more potential trade partners, and more exposure for the halal products on display. This momentum is also a positive signal for Malaysia as it continues strengthening its position as the centre of the global halal economy, in line with MIHAS 2026's theme this year, "Shaping Trust, Driving Resilience."
With one more day of the showcase remaining after today, all eyes are on whether MIHAS 2026 will actually set a new participation record. If the 50,000-visitor target is reached, it would mark a significant achievement amid an increasingly crowded field of global halal trade exhibitions.
This visitor figure is also consistent with data announced since opening day — 450 international buyers from 58 countries attending through the International Sourcing Programme (INSP), including buyers from first-time participating economies such as Comoros and Rwanda. In other words, the visitor surge isn't just about quantity, it also reflects an increasingly diverse market mix — from the traditional Northeast Asia and ASEAN base to a steadily growing non-traditional African market.
If this participation record is indeed achieved on the final day, MATRADE will likely treat this momentum as a new benchmark for planning future editions of MIHAS — whether in terms of venue capacity, booth numbers, or strategies for reaching buyers from regions that remain largely untapped.
Moslem Journey will continue tracking MIHAS 2026's developments through the final day of the event. Stay tuned for full coverage.
