DAVAO-BASED Universal Islamic Center, in partnership with the Mindanao Islamic Chamber of Commerce (MICC), is set to stage the Philippine Halal Trade and Tourism Expo on April 22 to 24 this year at the Abreeza Mall of Davao.

The three-day event will be focusing on promoting the growing US $3.2 trillion Halal industry in the global scale.

Marilou W. Ampuan, chair of the Halal committee of the Philippine Tourism Congress and founder of MICC, told reporters in a recent interview that the expo will further position Davao as one of the Halal hubs in Mindanao.

"We will be expecting over 200 participants to grace the event, mostly tourism industry players such as hotels and restaurants," she said adding that halal product producers and certifiers will also be invited.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has started the implementation of the Philippine Halal-bTourism Project last week.

The project will be tapping 50 major industry players in the tourism sector such as hotels and restaurants in the country to embrace Halal principles and practices by April of this year.

Of the figure, 10 will be tapped in Davao, 20 in Manila, 10 in Cebu and 10 in Boracay.

"For the first 10 players who will submit their intention to be part of the project, we will be shouldering the Halal accreditation and certification fees," Roberto Alabado III, DOT Davao regional director said.

He added that for those interested players who will not be part of the project, they will still assist and guide them for their accreditation and certification.

According to the project primer, the Halal tourism industry global economy value is pegged to double by 2020 at $6.4 trillion with some 150 million Muslim travelers worldwide.