our personnel

Abdalhamid Evans is Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Imarat Consultants, a niche consulting firm specializing in Halal market intelligence and analysis. He was formerly Director of Research and a regular contributor at The Halal Journal magazine in Malaysia, and was one of the co-Founders of the World Halal Forum in 2006.

A seasoned researcher, writer and consultant over the last thirty years, Hajj Abdalhamid has participated in a wide variety of projects in the fields of psychology, health, education, social welfare and political economy.

He has advised the Malaysian government on the Halal content and strategy for their 3rd Industrial Masterplan, and was instrumental in the creation and initial development of the Malaysian Halal Industry Development Corporation as the main vehicle to develop the local Halal industry as an engine of growth.

                                    In addition to other projects, Abdalhamid has also worked with the Government of Brunei Darussalam on the development of their overall Halal Agenda as a means of diversifying their economy away from an over-dependence on oil and gas.

He is currently working on the development of Accreditation Systems for Halal compliance in Muslim-minority countries.

Following his involvement as Project Director of the World Halal Forum Europe in London in November 2010, Abdalhamid took over as Director of the World Halal Forum in January 2011, and collaborated in the process of re-structuring the WHF as an international non-profit organisation.

He has given numerous presentations on Halal as an emerging market force, from Canada to Australia, and many places in between. Widely travelled and an active member of an extensive network within the Halal industry worldwide, he founded the Halal market newsfeed www.halalfocus.com, and is one of the leading voices of the Halal movement around the world today.

Salama Evans

As Director of Business Development at Imarat Consultants, Salama is responsible for international business development, and monitoring the global developments in the Halal sector. She also manages the content for the HalalFocus.com website.

Salama was born in Canada but spent most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Coming from a background of editing and book production, her work in the Halal market began while living in Malaysia with her husband Abdalhamid Evans in 2004.

She began by writing two Halal Food guidebooks for the KasehDia Halal Food Guide series, one on Dubai and the other one on Canada, and to prepare them for publication.

Salama was later actively involved in the conceptualization, development and launch of the new publication The Halal Journal. She was responsible for the advertising and marketing department of The Halal Journal, and during this time she also worked extensively in developing Halal sections and lectures at food exhibitions internationally, creating an awareness of the need for this new market niche to be addressed at major shows in London, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, South Africa and Thailand.

Salama was also a key member of the team that developed the World Halal Forum, a unique new forum for this new market sector, which was first held in May 2006. As Project Manager for the World Halal Forum in 2006 and 2007, she was responsible for bringing in sponsorship, top level international speakers, and industry delegates,

She is actively involved in event management internationally under Imarat Consultants, managing such events as Brunei’s International Halal Market Conference for 2008/9/10, and the World Halal Forum Europe in 2010 and World Halal Forum 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.

Salama’s work in the Halal industry internationally has helped her to develop an extensive research library and contact network spanning the global Halal market, both from a geographic as well as market sector perspective.