‘MALAYSIA’S HALAL EXPORTS TO HIT RM50B’
Many non-Muslim countries have recognised market’s untapped potential, says HDC
HALAL Industry Development Corp (HDC) is confident that Malaysia will be able to export as much as RM50 billion of home-grown halal products worldwide by 2020.
HDC vice-president of industry development Hanisofian Alias said this was possible as more non-Muslims were embracing halal as part of a healthy and hygienic lifestyle.
“Our halal exports are currently at about RM43 billion. I am confident that we will be able to hit the RM50 billion mark by the end of 2020,” he said at a briefing, here, yesterday.
“Many non-Muslim countries have recognised the untapped potential in the halal market and are racing to gain a footing, presenting a major business and export opportunity for us as Malaysia has always held the benchmark in halal production and certification.”
Hanisofian announced the collaboration with Denmark-based cooperative Arla Foods A.m.b.A towards the globalisation of “Halal Malaysia”, alongside halal advisory ARK Advantage.
For the preliminary stage of the collaboration, HDC will provide subject matter expert advisory services and offer halal training and consultancy services as required by Arla and ARK.
“This is a long-term collaboration between us in terms of knowledge sharing and marketing of products,” he said.
“HDC comes into play in helping Arla navigate policy changes in Malaysia, as well as Southeast Asia. This is important as for Malaysia alone, Arla exported more than RM30 million worth of products last year.”
Arla head of global halal supply chain Mahdi Salhab said for the time being, the firm would not be investing monetarily into the country, but that might change given time.
“We expect our exports into the country will rise over time on the back of the collaboration, but it is too soon to tell by how much.”
Arla’s Mandatory Halal Assurance System is designed in compliance with the Halal Assurance Management System, Department of Standards Malaysia MS Halal 1500:2009.
Arla Foods is a dairy firm owned by 11,200 farmers from Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium.
The global halal market is estimated at US$2.3 trillion (RM9.64 trillion) covering both food and non-food sectors.