The 9th World Halal Summit and 10th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Halal Expo, the world's largest "halal" organization, held in Istanbul, continued at a brisk pace over the weekend.
This year's events, which opened Thursday, were attended by 500 companies from 40 countries bringing together various sectors, from food to tourism, electronics to cosmetics, and textiles to health.
Meanwhile, the fair also contains a special area dedicated to women entrepreneurs. It also features the organization of the International Chefs Championship, which saw the participation of 1,000 chefs from 30 countries.
According to the information provided by Aylin Şengül, the coordinator of the Halal Summit and OIC Halal Expo, there has been a visible increase in the participation of women entrepreneurs, producers and female chefs compared to previous years.
Within the scope of the summit, among the entrepreneurial and productive women's associations and groups from all around the world, there are many associations and groups including the Arab Women's Union, the Palestine Shams Women and Children Association, International Women Cuisine, the Dakar Women and Village Arts Group and the Bayrampaşa Women's Cooperative.
This year, in addition to women's associations and groups, individual participation in the Halal Fair is also quite high. The colorful stands of women from various countries of the Islamic world such as Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Senegal, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are full of all kinds of handmade, eye-catching products.
Some of the most popular products included a jasmine cream that whitens the skin, produced by a manufacturer named Fatima hailing from Tunisia, perfumes made by Senegalese women from natural oils and roasted chickpea breads made following thousands of years of recipes written on Hittite tablets made by chef Aylin Memik from Türkiye's Çorum province.
One of the most visited places in the women's market area were the stands where Palestinian women exhibited their products. "We are here to help people in Palestine," said Muna Allaham, president of Palestine Shams Women and Children Association, adding that most of their proceeds would be sent to Palestine.
