KUCHING: Borong, Malaysia’s leading B2B e-commerce and marketplace solution provider, has partnered with Maybank Islamic to launch Salaam Market, the country’s first digital retail platform dedicated to the halal industry.
According to its statement, Salaam Market is designed to empower local SMEs by integrating halal certification support and financial services, paving the way for these businesses to navigate the complex halal market and expand their reach internationally.
This concept offers a seamless digital solution for sourcing halal-certified products at competitive prices, directly connecting SMEs with suppliers.
“Fundamentally, the platform helps SMEs in Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Singapore to facilitate halal transactions. With no minimum order requirements and direct access to certified halal ingredients, the marketplace aims to reduce costs and increase convenience for SMEs.
“The global halal market is set to grow to USD5 trillion by 2030, with domestic growth estimated to reach USD113.2 billion.
“Yet, SMEs entering the space face challenges like high ingredient costs, complex certification, and limited access to working capital, slowing their growth,” it said.
Borong managing director and co-founder Aizat Rahim said that this initiative represents a significant step in modernising the halal market.
“Not only Salaam Market aligns with the country’s goal to become a global leader in halal compliance, we also worked hard to ensure it addressed the key challenges for SMEs, which are affordability, financing, and certification, through the support of Maybank Islamic’s financing solutions while also being supported by Jakim’s halal certification,” he said.
He added that the partnership with Maybank Islamic will connect Borong’s SME businesses to tailored Islamic financial solutions, alongside in-house halal facilitation guidance, coupled with digital document management tools, facilitating easier access to halal markets both locally and internationally.
Meanwhile, Maybank Islamic Strategic Programme director Dr Muhd Ramadhan Fitri Ellias expressed his confidence that the Salaam Market will connect buyers and sellers in an e-commerce platform to make online transactions seamless.
“Each product sold on the platform has been verified of its halal authenticity to give assurance to buyers.
“This is one of Maybank Islamic’s halal beyond banking solutions to serve the needs of our customers and we will continue to strengthen our halal ecosystem propositions to support the national agenda of growing the Halal domestic market to an estimated USD113.2 billion by 2030,” he said.
