Among the 13 awards presented at MIHAS Awards 2026 today, one category holds a particularly special status: the Women in Export (WiEX) Awards. This marks the first time this category has existed since the MIHAS Awards began — a step that signals formal recognition of women entrepreneurs' contributions to the global halal industry.
WiEX Awards itself is designed to recognise outstanding women-led businesses across two categories: Excellence, and Innovation, Sustainability & Digitalisation. In other words, women-led businesses don't just have a single award pathway, but are evaluated through two distinct lenses reflecting the diversity of achievements they might attain — whether in terms of general product/service excellence, or specifically in terms of innovation and sustainability.
This year's two official WiEX Awards winners are Zhafou Global Sdn Bhd, which received the WiEX Product/Service Excellence Award, and Innovate Health Sdn Bhd, which received the WiEX Product/Service Innovation, Sustainability and Digitalisation Award. Both companies represent the first-ever recipients of this newly introduced award category — a status that carries its own historical significance for both companies.
The WiEX Awards' presence doesn't stand alone. It complements the broader Women in Export (WiEX) initiative at MIHAS 2026, which throughout the exhibition showcased 80 women-led booths. In other words, WiEX isn't just a single award category at the end of the event, but a support ecosystem running throughout MIHAS's four days — from the exhibition floor, to discussion forums, culminating in awards on the final day.
MATRADE CEO YBhg. Dato' Indera Abu Bakar Yusof specifically highlighted the introduction of the WiEX Awards as part of broadening the overall scope of the MIHAS Awards. He said this reaffirms MIHAS's commitment to promoting greater inclusivity and recognising the important contributions of women entrepreneurs and business leaders to the growth and internationalisation of the halal economy.
The significance of this moment should also be seen in a broader context. Women's representation in export and international trade — including within the halal industry — has often received less spotlight compared to business achievements in general. With a dedicated award category like the WiEX Awards, MIHAS is explicitly recognising that women entrepreneurs aren't merely supplementary participants in the halal ecosystem, but significant contributors shaping the industry's direction.
This step is also consistent with Malaysia's broader policy direction on women's economic empowerment — given that WiEX itself was already introduced as an initiative at MIHAS before this award existed, through a dedicated pavilion and forum that have run in previous years. This year's WiEX Awards feels like a natural culmination of an initiative built up gradually — from a showcase space, to a discussion forum, and now an official award category.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see whether the WiEX Awards category continues to grow in future editions of MIHAS — whether in terms of the number of sub-categories, the number of entrants, or the scale of recognition given. If the trend of women's participation in the halal sector keeps growing as shown by MIHAS 2026's overall data, it wouldn't be surprising if WiEX Awards becomes one of the most competitive categories in future editions.
For Moslem Journey readers who are themselves women entrepreneurs in the halal sector or Muslim-friendly travel industry, the WiEX Awards' presence could serve as both inspiration and concrete proof that room to grow in this industry remains wide open — not just in Malaysia, but potentially as a model other countries' halal exhibitions could adopt, Indonesia included. Given Indonesia's own sizeable base of women-led SMEs, a similar step at domestic exhibitions could be a relevant next move worth considering for organisers of similar events — especially since many Indonesian women-led halal SMEs still lack a dedicated awards stage at anything near MIHAS's scale.
Moslem Journey congratulates the WiEX Awards 2026 winners. Stay tuned for Moslem Journey's full coverage of MIHAS 2026.
