Interactive prayer mat made in Wales goes viral in Middle East

A businessman who sells prayer mats to the Middle East wants more Welsh firms to follow his lead.

Kamal Ali, from Newport, invented the world's first interactive prayer mat after seeing his son struggle with his technique.

Mr Ali said the product had "gone viral" in countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The Welsh government wants more firms to export, but some have said Brexit paperwork is slowing them down.

The total value of Welsh exports was £15.2 billion in 2021.

Compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, exports had declined by £2.5 billion or 14.3%.

Across the UK there has been a decline of 8.9% in the value of exports between 2019 and 2021.

Mr Ali's interactive mat was designed to help Muslim children learn the correct prayer technique.

The former teacher developed the design in Newport and watched global demand for the mat grow once it reached the market.

"I have been able to present the product to companies all around the world, and one of the things I say when I present the product is: 'My Name is Kamal, I am from Newport in Wales.' And everyone is astonished," he said.

"They can't believe that this product, the world's first interactive prayer mat, wasn't invented by somebody in Saudi Arabia," he added.

Mr Ali's prayer mats are exported to a number of countries with large Muslim populations.

"We have been so fortunate that the product has gone viral in the Middle East. We have had so many orders, it is one of our biggest markets right now.

"We are exporting thousands of these products to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar. The demand for it is amazing."

But exporting to EU countries has become harder for Mr Ali since Brexit, and other companies have also expressed frustration.

The managing director of Cardiff company BCB International, which exports survival equipment, said EU customs had given the business "a bit of a spanking," but new markets have opened up.

Andrew Howell's company exports around 40% of its sales, and is currently exporting body armour and ration packs to the Ukraine, as well as other defence and marine safety customers around the world.

"Certain countries are quite restrictive on letting our products in.

"We recently had a case from Poland that said the paperwork was wrong - the paperwork was perfectly correct, but it was just them giving us a spanking," he said.

Mr Howell said there was a lack of consistency in the demands from customs officers in EU countries, but the process had not deterred him from exporting.

"Definitely not, no, no. Let's go for it. I am a 'two-feet-first' type of guy," he added.

In an effort to boost exports after the disruption to trade of Brexit and Covid-19, the Welsh government has resumed trade missions to countries in the Middle East, the EU and North America.

Economy minister Vaughan Gething told BBC Wales that the UK market was significant, but that a "wider world" existed.

He said: "We also know that some people are more concerned about exporting, with our changed relationships with Europe.

"That is why we are making a deliberate effort to encourage businesses to still look at that.

"The UK market is really big and significant, but we also know there is a wider world to trade with, and to trade with successfully. And we want Welsh business to be part of a future success story."