KUALA LUMPUR: Borong — Malaysia’s leading wholesale business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and marketplace solution provider — has launched Salaam Market, the country’s first digital retail platform of its kind, in collaboration with Maybank Islamic, marking a significant step forward in positioning Malaysia as a leader in the international Halal industry. 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 US$5 trillion by 2030, with domestic growth estimated to reach US$113.2 billion. Yet, SMEs entering the space face challenges like high ingredient costs, complex certification, and limited access to working capital, slowing their growth.
“For us, this initiative represents a significant step in modernising the Halal market,” said Aizat Rahim, managing director and co-founder of Borong. “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.”
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.
“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,”
said Maybank Islamic Strategic Programme Director, Dr. Muhd Ramadhan Fitri Ellias.
