In recent years, with increasing cultural exchanges, Muslim tourists have been visiting Vietnam, and Hanoi in particular, in growing numbers.

Vietnam boasts a wealth of raw materials suitable for Halal production, including coffee, rice, seafood, aquaculture products, spices, nuts, vegetables and fruits. These raw materials hold significant promise for producing Halal-certified final products.

The global Halal market has a massive scale and great development potential thanks to the 2-billion-strong Muslim community that accounts for nearly 25% of the world's population. It is forecast to reach about 2.8 billion people by 2050, with a market value expecting to hit 10 trillion USD by 2028.

The market for Muslims in Malaysia in particular and the Halal market in general has a lot of development potential, offering a good opportunity for Vietnamese exporters, heard a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on May 31.

Thailand’s Ministry of Industry has established the Thai Halal Industry Centre (THIC) as an effort to turn the country into a regional leader in the production and export of halal products.

Peace talks to end decades of armed conflict in the southernmost provinces of Thailand resumed on February 6 after a year-long pause.

A series of bomb attacks in Pattani province, Thailand's insurgency-hit far south, killed two people and wounded four others, Thai authorities confirmed on August 29.

Muslim visitors are now seen as an important source of international tourists to Vietnam’s central coastal localities amid a sluggish recovery in traditional markets.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country - is expected to see a huge wave of people moving from cities to their homeland (also known as Mudik) during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid said the country’s halal market value is expected to reach 400 billion RM (89.13 billion USD) by 2030.

Foreign religious followers are ambassadors of Vietnam, where 95% of local population practice a belief or religion, to their religious organisations across the world.

Malaysian police on March 9 announced that a citizen of the country had been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for profaning Muslim and Prophet Muhammad.

A seminar discussing ways to lure more Malaysian tourists to HCM City took place on September 8 on the sidelines of the three-day International Travel Expo (ITE) HCM City 2017.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on August 30 has allowed the government army to decide suitable measures to take back areas that under insurgents’ control in the southern city of Marawi on Mindanao Island.

Indonesian police have found hundreds of books containing Islamic State (IS) propaganda targeting children at the home of a suspect arrested in connection with the stabbing death of an officer, a police spokeswoman said on June 26.

Thai police said on September 5 they had arrested a suspect linked to Muslim insurgents in connection with the bombings in tourist towns last month that killed four people and wounded dozens.

Thai police on August 24 reported that one person died and 30 others were injured in two explosions near Southern hotel in Pattani town in the southern region on the night of August 23.

The Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs hosted a reception in Hanoi on August 19 for Muslim dignitaries from Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and Ninh Thuan.

Indonesian police have arrested three men suspected of being linked to Islamic State (IS).

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha on March 14 ordered an increase in security in southern provinces where Muslim people account for a majority of the population.