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JAPAN: A name that inspires trust

Al-Associates Group, a halal-certification company, is planning to bring the best of Japanese halal products to the UAE Hirokazu Yoshida and Mohammed Jahangir Kashem share their thoughts about their future business plans and how they are steadily bringing the best of Japanese products to the Middle East. Excerpts of the interview:

Give us an overview of Al-Associates Group.
Al-Associates Group Limited is the core company of Al-Associates Group, which is headquartered in Tokyo, and has a branch office in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is an international company that acts as a bridge between Japan and Muslim countries.
The other three firms under the group include Al-Halal Associates Ltd, Al-International Associates Limited, Asia-Pacific Economic Council, and Genyado Inc. Al-Halal Associates Limited is a halal-certification organisation headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It certifies several Japanese foods, such as agricultural products, meats, processed foods, etc. through its Halal Board in Dhaka.
Al-International Associates Limited is a trading house and exports certified products to Muslim countries.
Asia-Pacific Economic Council is an employment agency that introduces skilled and superior human resource such as engineers and apprentices from Bangladesh to Japanese companies. GENYADO Inc. mainly works as a coordinator of medical tours and halal tours as well as product sales company from Muslim countries in Japan.

Mohammed Jahangir Kashem, Managing Director
Al-Associates Group LimitedTell us how Al International Associates has grown since its inception?
Mohammed Jahangir Kashem from Bangladesh and Hirokazu Yoshida from Japan had established the trading house, Al International Associates Ltd, to build a bridge between Bangladesh and Japan, for prosperous future and further understanding of both countries' cultural and religious issues. Since then, many associates and investors have supported us and we have steadily expanded our business. Although we encountered numerous difficulties, we eventually overcame all to prosper and move ahead. We highly appreciate the support of
our patrons.  

How would you define your role in building and reinforcing economic ties with the UAE or Middle East?
At the beginning, we had worked only as a bridge between Bangladesh and Japan. However, since we have continued to understand the culture and increased our interaction with Muslim people, our relationship with GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait has deepened. Recently, we have seen a surge in the number of Muslim tourists to Japan, courtesy liberalisation of visa rules.
Having said that, the most important issue for business is to understand religious outlook and view of life rather than pursue profits. Since we understand the religion and culture very well, we have been able to build stronger relations and help our partners. We hope that we can serve as a point of contact for Japanese and Muslim companies, and help facilitate business developments and contribute to both countries.

Hirokazu Yoshida, Deputy Managing Director
Al-Associates Group LimitedWhat makes your company standout in competition?
We are not only a halal-certification company that certifies and exports Japanese products to Muslim countries but also a trading and consulting house. We would like to contribute to the growth of Japanese agriculture and other primary industries utilising our dual functions. We have a human-resources bank in Bangladesh, which has data of young and excellent work force. Using this function, we would also like to encourage talented workers to work in Japan and the UAE for supporting industries, such as agriculture, construction and IT industry that suffer from chronic manpower shortage.

Tell us about your latest and upcoming events/projects.
We have collaborated with a Japanese strawberry firm that produces giant strawberries called "Bijin Hime". We plan to host an event and present these strawberries to the royal families in Arab countries. Bijin Hime is the signature agricultural product of Hajima City, Gifu Prefecture. The season for this fruit will start from December.
We also run halal certifications for ingredients, and also recently certified brewing process for a non-alcoholic beer that produced the world's first halal lager beer Ninja Lager. We plan to introduce "Ninja Lager" in Dubai and Dhaka, and will organise a tasting event in Dubai.

Anything else you would want to add?
We would like to dedicate ourselves to promote Japan-made 'Halal products' in Muslim countries.

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